Difference between revisions of "12th Star Guards"

(Technical Readout: 3025 Revised - reminder - 2970 - LaBlon)
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{{Update Needed|[[Technical Readout: 3025 Revised]]}}
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{{Update Needed|[[Combat Manual: Mercenaries]]}}
 
{{InfoBoxMercUnit
 
{{InfoBoxMercUnit
| image        = [[Image:12thStarGuards.gif|Insignia of the 12th Star Guards]]
+
| image        = [[Image:12thStarGuards.gif|150px|Insignia of the 12th Star Guards]]
 
| year        = 3025
 
| year        = 3025
 
| unitname    = 12th Star Guards
 
| unitname    = 12th Star Guards
| commander    = Hauptmann-General [[Mitch DeChavalier]]
+
| commander    = Hauptmann-General [[Mitch DeChavilier]]<ref name=HBS>''House Steiner (The Lyran Commonwealth)'', 12th Star Guards mercenary profile box</ref>
 
| jumpships    = Yes
 
| jumpships    = Yes
 
| dropships    = Yes
 
| dropships    = Yes
Line 10: Line 10:
 
| armor        = Yes
 
| armor        = Yes
 
| infantry    = Yes
 
| infantry    = Yes
| subunitname1 = 1st Reg.
+
| subunitname1 = First Regiment
 
| subunitloc1  = [[New Earth]]
 
| subunitloc1  = [[New Earth]]
 
| subunitexp1  = Veteran
 
| subunitexp1  = Veteran
| subunitname2 = 2nd Reg.
+
| subunitname2 = Second Regiment
 
| subunitloc2  = [[Ellison IV]]<ref>{{cite | title=House Steiner Sourcebook | date=1987 | publisher=FASA | production code=pg 117}}</ref>
 
| subunitloc2  = [[Ellison IV]]<ref>{{cite | title=House Steiner Sourcebook | date=1987 | publisher=FASA | production code=pg 117}}</ref>
 
| subunitexp2  = Regular
 
| subunitexp2  = Regular
| subunitname3 = 3rd Reg.
+
| subunitname3 = Third Regiment
 
| subunitloc3  = [[Lyons]]
 
| subunitloc3  = [[Lyons]]
 
| subunitexp3  = Veteran
 
| subunitexp3  = Veteran
| subunitname4 = 7th Reg.
+
| subunitname4 = Seventh Regiment
 
| subunitloc4  = [[Lyons]]
 
| subunitloc4  = [[Lyons]]
 
| subunitexp4  = Green
 
| subunitexp4  = Green
 
}}
 
}}
  
The '''12th Star Guards''' is a very large [[mercenary unit]] with a long history, dating from the Exodus in [[2784]]. Along with the [[Eridani Light Horse]], it is one of the oldest mercenary units in the [[Inner Sphere]]. The unit served admirably for its employers up to and including the time of the [[Clan Invasion]], when the unit was effectively destroyed as a fighting force.
+
The '''Twelfth Star Guards''' was a very large [[mercenary unit]] with a long history, dating from the [[Operation Exodus|Exodus]] in [[2784]]. Along with the [[Eridani Light Horse]], it was one of the oldest mercenary units in the [[Inner Sphere]]. The unit served admirably for its employers up to and including the time of the [[Clan Invasion]], when the unit was effectively destroyed as a fighting force.
  
 
==Unit History==
 
==Unit History==
The 12th Star Guards were created from regular [[Star League Defense Force]] units following [[Aleksandr Kerensky|Kerensky]]'s Exodus. Two regiments of the SLDF&mdash;the [[42nd Striker Regiment]] and the [[10th Heavy Assault Regiment]]&mdash;chose not to follow General Kerensky and instead decided to band together and form a mercenary unit. Originally employed by the [[Capellan Confederation]], it guarded twelve star systems and was called the 12 Stars Guards. Eventually, that evolved into the more recognized name for the unit, the 12th Star Guards.
+
The Twelfth Star Guards were created from regular [[Star League Defense Force]] units following [[Aleksandr Kerensky]]'s Exodus. Two regiments of the SLDF—the [[Forty-second Striker Regiment]] and the [[Tenth Heavy Assault Regiment]]—chose not to follow General Kerensky and instead decided to band together and form a mercenary unit. Originally employed by the [[Capellan Confederation]], the unit guarded twelve star systems and was called the Twelve Stars Guards. Eventually, that evolved into the more recognized name for the unit, the Twelfth Star Guards.{{cn}}
  
The unit size has fluctuated over the years from the original two regiments up to a high of seven in the [[Second Succession War]]. During that war, the unit lost two regiments&mdash;one due to lack of pay&mdash;and the other was abandoned via deception by its then-employers, the [[Draconis Combine]].  
+
The unit's size fluctuated over the years from the original two regiments up to seven in the [[Second Succession War]]. During that war, the unit lost two regiments—one due to lack of pay, and the other was abandoned via deception by its then-employers, the [[Draconis Combine]].<ref name=HBS/>
  
At the beginning of the [[Third Succession War]], the unit moved to the [[Federated Suns]]. During an attack on a Davion world, two battalions of the 6th Regiment defected and joined the [[Kurita]] attackers due to on-going pay issues. The remaining battalion was merged with the 7th Regiment. The unit then moved to the [[Lyran Commonwealth]] in [[2967]]. Unfortunately for the Guards, an unscrupulous liaison officer embezzled vast funds destined for the unit.
+
===Third Succession War===
 +
At the beginning of the [[Third Succession War]], the unit moved to the [[Federated Suns]]. During an attack on a Davion world, two battalions of the Sixth Regiment defected and joined the [[Kurita]] attackers due to on-going pay issues. The remaining battalion was merged with the Seventh Regiment. The unit then moved to the [[Lyran Commonwealth]] in [[2967]]. Unfortunately for the Guards, an unscrupulous liaison officer embezzled vast funds destined for the unit.<ref name=HBS/>
  
The unit then moved to the [[Federated Suns]] in [[3012]] with a hope that their financial situation would improve. The unit managed to improve their situation slightly and decided to sign back up with the [[Lyran Commonwealth]] in [[3024]]. The unit's financial situation improved under the Lyran contract.
+
In [[2970]] the 12th Star Guards raided the Kurita world of [[La Blon]], destroying several ammunition dumps.<ref>''Technical Readout: 3025 Revised'', p. 18</ref> They also guarded [[Loric]] in [[2971]], but mechanical failures in the Guards' equipment allowed the [[Regulan Hussars]] to take the world.<ref>''Technical Readout: 3025 Revised'', p. 66</ref>
  
The 2nd and 3rd regiments were the descendants of the original SLDF regiments that formed the original mercenary unit. The Guards regiments were stationed on various planets around the [[Ryde Theatre]] in the [[Isle of Skye]]. Their headquarters were on [[Lyons]] (which later became a base for the [[Kell Hounds]] mercenary unit during the [[Fourth Succession War]]). The Guards moved from Lyons during the initial thrusts by the Commonwealth into Combine territory during that conflict.
+
In [[2978]] Loric was the subject of a significant battle between Lyran and Free Worlds League forces; defending Loric alongside the Twelfth Star Guards were the Eridani Light Horse, and both units found themselves in the middle of the battle. With the Eridani Light Horse in urgent need of relief, the Twelfth Star Guards managed to break through the main Marik lines at Digger's Pass, but stalled at an ad-hoc defensive formation of assorted League units along a river line, with the Marik forces keeping the Eridani Light Horse cut off from reinforcements. The Twelfth Star Guards tried using ''[[Condor (Combat Vehicle)|Condor]]'' tanks from one of their supporting regiments, the [[Thirty-fourth Provisional Dixie Armored Regiment]], to breach the defensive line without success, before finally breaking through by using their engineering company and their [[Engineering Vehicle]]s to cut through the river banks and prepare the river bed for 'Mech movement. This was after attempts to build pontoon bridges failed due to heavy artillery bombardment and attacks from Marik [[AeroSpace Fighter]]s. While the Twelfth Star Guards did manage to ford the river and relieve the Light Horse, the action cost them most of their engineering cadre and three out of their four engineering vehicles. The actions of the Third Battalion of the Thirty-fourth PDAR in attacking disorganized Marik formations on the other side of the river, despite being cut-off, and then holding a beachhead by destroying incoming ground forces were critical in giving the Star Guards time to ford the river.<ref name="TRO:3026Rp44">''Technical Readout: 3026, Revised Edition'', p. 44, "Engineering Vehicle"</ref><ref name="TRO:3026Rp52">''Technical Readout: 3026, Revised Edition'', p. 52, "Condor Heavy Hover Tank"</ref>
  
The 12th Star Guards were effectively destroyed during the [[Clan Invasion]].<ref>''Technical Readout: 3050 Revised'', p. 6</ref> Stationed in the Tamar March of the [[Federated Commonwealth]], the four Guards regiments garrisoned the worlds of [[Steelton]], [[Toland]], [[Icar]], and [[Bensinger]]. [[Clan Wolf]] took Icar in March, 3050 and destroyed the 3rd Guards regiment. The 1st and 2nd were nearly destroyed on Steelton and Toland, but were able to withdraw to [[Wotan]]. The Falcons destroyed the survivors of the 1st and 2nd regiments there. Bensinger was captured by the Jade Falcons, but the Seventh Guards regiment didn't take part in the defense. Instead they participated in a guerrilla conflict for several years.<ref>''Era Report: 3052'', p. 41</ref>
+
The unit then moved to the [[Federated Suns]] in [[3012]] with the hope that their financial situation would improve. The unit managed to improve their situation slightly and decided to sign back up with the [[Lyran Commonwealth]] in [[3024]]. The unit's financial situation improved further under the Lyran contract.<ref name=HBS/>
  
The Guards' former chef tech, [[Felifious Bander]], would eventually found [[Bander BattleMechs]] along with other former mercenary techs, a firm specializing in refitting BattleMechs with new technologies. By [[3055]], the firm would be large enough to introduce its first original design, the ''[[Bandersnatch]]''. <ref name=TRO3055U60>''Technical Readout: 3055 Upgrade'', p. 60</ref>
+
In late [[3020]] the Lyran Commonwealth launched what would become an extended campaign to recapture [[Alexandria (LC)|Alexandria]] from the Draconis Combine. The [[LCAF]] deployed a substantial force in the effort to liberate the planet, including several regiments of the Twelfth Star Guards leading a mercenary task force that consisted of a number of other mercenary units including [[Snord's Irregulars]].<ref name=CSI6>''Cranston Snord's Irregulars'', p. 6</ref><ref>''Cranston Snord's Irregulars'', pp. 24-25 (Scenario "Up in Smoke")</ref>
 +
 
 +
The Second and Third regiments were the descendants of the original SLDF regiments that formed the original mercenary unit. The Guards regiments were stationed on various planets around the [[Ryde Theatre]] in the [[Isle of Skye]]. Their headquarters were on [[Lyons]] (which later became a base for the [[Kell Hounds]] mercenary unit during the [[Fourth Succession War]]). The Guards moved from Lyons during the initial thrusts by the Commonwealth into Combine territory during that conflict.{{cn}}
 +
 
 +
===Clan Invasion===
 +
The Twelfth Star Guards were effectively destroyed during the [[Clan Invasion]].<ref>''Technical Readout: 3050 Revised'', p. 6</ref> Stationed in the Tamar March of the [[Federated Commonwealth]], the four Guards regiments garrisoned the worlds of [[Steelton]], [[Toland]], [[Icar]], and [[Bensinger]].
 +
 
 +
On Icar on 20 March 3050 the Third Guards regiment was one of the first Inner Sphere units to encounter the Clans when [[Clan Wolf|Clan Wolf's]] [[Fourth Wolf Guards]] dropped onto the world. Colonel Hannah Caitlin's aide would later write an account that captured the initial shock and devastation wrought by the Clans upon their unsuspecting opponents.<ref>''Wolf Clan Sourcebook'', p. 31</ref> The regiment was mauled and the survivors forced to surrender after a failed attempt to escape off-world.<ref>''Wolf Clan Sourcebook'', p. 57, "Icar"</ref>
 +
 
 +
The First and Second were nearly destroyed on Steelton and Toland, but were able to withdraw to [[Wotan]]. The Falcons destroyed the survivors of the First and Second regiments there. Bensinger was captured by the Jade Falcons, but the Seventh Guards regiment (Bouncer's Regiment, under Col. Ren Bouncer) didn't take part in its defense. Instead, they participated in a guerrilla conflict for several years.<ref>''Era Report: 3052'', p. 41</ref>
 +
 
 +
The Guards' former chief tech, [[Felifious Bander]], would eventually found [[Bander BattleMechs]] along with other former mercenary techs, a firm specializing in refitting BattleMechs with new technologies. By [[3055]], the firm would be large enough to introduce its first original design, the ''[[Bandersnatch]]''. <ref name=TRO3055U60>''Technical Readout: 3055 Upgrade'', p. 60</ref>
 +
 
 +
==Officers==
 +
{| class="wikitable"
 +
|-
 +
! scope="col" width="220" style="background: #dedede;" | Rank
 +
! scope="col" width="220" style="background: #dedede;" | Name
 +
! scope="col" width="220" style="background: #dedede;" | Command
 +
|-
 +
| colspan="4" style="background: #efefef;" | '''Commanding Officers of the 12th Star Guards'''
 +
|-
 +
| [[Hauptmann-General]]||[[Mitch DeChavilier]]||[[3025]]<ref name=HBS/>
 +
|-
 +
| [[General]]||Mitch DeChavilier||[[3038]] - [[3050]]<ref name=ER3052>''Era Report: 3052'', p. 81 "Charles Francis Carranza"</ref>
 +
|-
 +
|}
 +
 
 +
==Tactics==
 +
Different per Unit.
  
 
==Units of the 12th Star Guards==
 
==Units of the 12th Star Guards==
:[[1st Regiment (12th Star Guards)|1st Regiment]] - ''Rivers Gamblers''
+
:* [[1st Regiment (12th Star Guards)|First Regiment]]  
:[[2nd Regiment (12th Star Guards)|2nd Regiment]] - ''Ohell's Heavies''
+
:* [[2nd Regiment (12th Star Guards)|Second Regiment]]  
:[[3rd Regiment (12th Star Guards)|3rd Regiment]] - ''Paget's War Ponies''
+
:* [[3rd Regiment (12th Star Guards)|Third Regiment]]
:[[7th Regiment (12th Star Guards)|7th Regiment]] - ''Scovy's Ironmen''
+
:* [[4th Regiment (12th Star Guards)|Fourth Regiment]]
 +
:* [[5th Regiment (12th Star Guards)|Fifth Regiment]]
 +
:* [[6th Regiment (12th Star Guards)|Sixth Regiment]]
 +
:* [[7th Regiment (12th Star Guards)|Seventh Regiment]]  
 +
 
 +
==Notes==
 +
:* The First Regiment is also known as Rivers Gamblers.
 +
:* Second Regiment has the nickname Ohell's Heavies.
 +
:* The Third Regiment has the nickname Paget's War Ponie.
 +
:* The Fourth Regiment has the nickname The RattFraggs.
 +
:* The Fifth Regiment  has the nickname Lescouflair's Landsknechts.
 +
:* The Seventh Regiment is also known as Scovy's Ironmen.
  
 
==Unit Notes==
 
==Unit Notes==
"El Magnifico" is the code name for the 12th Star Guards' engineering unit. The Guards employed some of the best engineers in the Inner Sphere. An apocryphal tale tells of the unit actually building New Rome in a day but, not wanting to show off, tearing down part of the city and rebuilding it the next day.<ref>''Technical Readout: 3026'', p. 40</ref>
+
"El Magnifico" is the code name for the Twelfth Star Guards' engineering unit. The Guards employed some of the best engineers in the Inner Sphere. An apocryphal tale tells of the unit actually building New Rome in a day but, not wanting to show off, tearing down part of the city and rebuilding it the next day.<ref>''Technical Readout: 3026'', p. 40</ref>
  
 
==Gallery==
 
==Gallery==
 
<gallery>
 
<gallery>
Image:Camomercs12thstarguads.png
+
Image:Camomercs12thstarguads.png|[[Behemoth (Combat Vehicle)|Behemoth]] tank in Twelfth Star Guards livery
 
</gallery> ‎
 
</gallery> ‎
  
 
==References==
 
==References==
 
<references />
 
<references />
 +
 
==Bibliography==
 
==Bibliography==
*''[[Era Report: 3052]]''
+
* ''[[Cranston Snord's Irregulars (scenario pack)|Cranston Snord's Irregulars]]''
*''[[House Steiner (The Lyran Commonwealth)]]''
+
* ''[[Era Report: 3052]]''
*''[[Technical Readout: 3026]]''
+
* ''[[House Steiner (The Lyran Commonwealth)]]''
*''[[Technical Readout: 3050 Revised]]''
+
* ''[[Technical Readout: 3025]]''
*''[[Technical Readout: 3055 Upgrade]]''
+
* ''[[Technical Readout: 3025 Revised]]''
 +
* ''[[Technical Readout: 3026]]''
 +
* ''[[Technical Readout: 3026, Revised Edition]]''
 +
* ''[[Technical Readout: 3050 Revised]]''
 +
* ''[[Technical Readout: 3055 Upgrade]]''
  
 
[[Category:Mercenary Commands|Star Guards, 12th]]
 
[[Category:Mercenary Commands|Star Guards, 12th]]

Revision as of 07:38, 7 October 2019

Template:InfoBoxMercUnit

The Twelfth Star Guards was a very large mercenary unit with a long history, dating from the Exodus in 2784. Along with the Eridani Light Horse, it was one of the oldest mercenary units in the Inner Sphere. The unit served admirably for its employers up to and including the time of the Clan Invasion, when the unit was effectively destroyed as a fighting force.

Unit History

The Twelfth Star Guards were created from regular Star League Defense Force units following Aleksandr Kerensky's Exodus. Two regiments of the SLDF—the Forty-second Striker Regiment and the Tenth Heavy Assault Regiment—chose not to follow General Kerensky and instead decided to band together and form a mercenary unit. Originally employed by the Capellan Confederation, the unit guarded twelve star systems and was called the Twelve Stars Guards. Eventually, that evolved into the more recognized name for the unit, the Twelfth Star Guards.[citation needed]

The unit's size fluctuated over the years from the original two regiments up to seven in the Second Succession War. During that war, the unit lost two regiments—one due to lack of pay, and the other was abandoned via deception by its then-employers, the Draconis Combine.[1]

Third Succession War

At the beginning of the Third Succession War, the unit moved to the Federated Suns. During an attack on a Davion world, two battalions of the Sixth Regiment defected and joined the Kurita attackers due to on-going pay issues. The remaining battalion was merged with the Seventh Regiment. The unit then moved to the Lyran Commonwealth in 2967. Unfortunately for the Guards, an unscrupulous liaison officer embezzled vast funds destined for the unit.[1]

In 2970 the 12th Star Guards raided the Kurita world of La Blon, destroying several ammunition dumps.[2] They also guarded Loric in 2971, but mechanical failures in the Guards' equipment allowed the Regulan Hussars to take the world.[3]

In 2978 Loric was the subject of a significant battle between Lyran and Free Worlds League forces; defending Loric alongside the Twelfth Star Guards were the Eridani Light Horse, and both units found themselves in the middle of the battle. With the Eridani Light Horse in urgent need of relief, the Twelfth Star Guards managed to break through the main Marik lines at Digger's Pass, but stalled at an ad-hoc defensive formation of assorted League units along a river line, with the Marik forces keeping the Eridani Light Horse cut off from reinforcements. The Twelfth Star Guards tried using Condor tanks from one of their supporting regiments, the Thirty-fourth Provisional Dixie Armored Regiment, to breach the defensive line without success, before finally breaking through by using their engineering company and their Engineering Vehicles to cut through the river banks and prepare the river bed for 'Mech movement. This was after attempts to build pontoon bridges failed due to heavy artillery bombardment and attacks from Marik AeroSpace Fighters. While the Twelfth Star Guards did manage to ford the river and relieve the Light Horse, the action cost them most of their engineering cadre and three out of their four engineering vehicles. The actions of the Third Battalion of the Thirty-fourth PDAR in attacking disorganized Marik formations on the other side of the river, despite being cut-off, and then holding a beachhead by destroying incoming ground forces were critical in giving the Star Guards time to ford the river.[4][5]

The unit then moved to the Federated Suns in 3012 with the hope that their financial situation would improve. The unit managed to improve their situation slightly and decided to sign back up with the Lyran Commonwealth in 3024. The unit's financial situation improved further under the Lyran contract.[1]

In late 3020 the Lyran Commonwealth launched what would become an extended campaign to recapture Alexandria from the Draconis Combine. The LCAF deployed a substantial force in the effort to liberate the planet, including several regiments of the Twelfth Star Guards leading a mercenary task force that consisted of a number of other mercenary units including Snord's Irregulars.[6][7]

The Second and Third regiments were the descendants of the original SLDF regiments that formed the original mercenary unit. The Guards regiments were stationed on various planets around the Ryde Theatre in the Isle of Skye. Their headquarters were on Lyons (which later became a base for the Kell Hounds mercenary unit during the Fourth Succession War). The Guards moved from Lyons during the initial thrusts by the Commonwealth into Combine territory during that conflict.[citation needed]

Clan Invasion

The Twelfth Star Guards were effectively destroyed during the Clan Invasion.[8] Stationed in the Tamar March of the Federated Commonwealth, the four Guards regiments garrisoned the worlds of Steelton, Toland, Icar, and Bensinger.

On Icar on 20 March 3050 the Third Guards regiment was one of the first Inner Sphere units to encounter the Clans when Clan Wolf's Fourth Wolf Guards dropped onto the world. Colonel Hannah Caitlin's aide would later write an account that captured the initial shock and devastation wrought by the Clans upon their unsuspecting opponents.[9] The regiment was mauled and the survivors forced to surrender after a failed attempt to escape off-world.[10]

The First and Second were nearly destroyed on Steelton and Toland, but were able to withdraw to Wotan. The Falcons destroyed the survivors of the First and Second regiments there. Bensinger was captured by the Jade Falcons, but the Seventh Guards regiment (Bouncer's Regiment, under Col. Ren Bouncer) didn't take part in its defense. Instead, they participated in a guerrilla conflict for several years.[11]

The Guards' former chief tech, Felifious Bander, would eventually found Bander BattleMechs along with other former mercenary techs, a firm specializing in refitting BattleMechs with new technologies. By 3055, the firm would be large enough to introduce its first original design, the Bandersnatch. [12]

Officers

Rank Name Command
Commanding Officers of the 12th Star Guards
Hauptmann-General Mitch DeChavilier 3025[1]
General Mitch DeChavilier 3038 - 3050[13]

Tactics

Different per Unit.

Units of the 12th Star Guards

Notes

  • The First Regiment is also known as Rivers Gamblers.
  • Second Regiment has the nickname Ohell's Heavies.
  • The Third Regiment has the nickname Paget's War Ponie.
  • The Fourth Regiment has the nickname The RattFraggs.
  • The Fifth Regiment has the nickname Lescouflair's Landsknechts.
  • The Seventh Regiment is also known as Scovy's Ironmen.

Unit Notes

"El Magnifico" is the code name for the Twelfth Star Guards' engineering unit. The Guards employed some of the best engineers in the Inner Sphere. An apocryphal tale tells of the unit actually building New Rome in a day but, not wanting to show off, tearing down part of the city and rebuilding it the next day.[14]

Gallery

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named HBS
  2. Technical Readout: 3025 Revised, p. 18
  3. Technical Readout: 3025 Revised, p. 66
  4. Technical Readout: 3026, Revised Edition, p. 44, "Engineering Vehicle"
  5. Technical Readout: 3026, Revised Edition, p. 52, "Condor Heavy Hover Tank"
  6. Cranston Snord's Irregulars, p. 6
  7. Cranston Snord's Irregulars, pp. 24-25 (Scenario "Up in Smoke")
  8. Technical Readout: 3050 Revised, p. 6
  9. Wolf Clan Sourcebook, p. 31
  10. Wolf Clan Sourcebook, p. 57, "Icar"
  11. Era Report: 3052, p. 41
  12. Technical Readout: 3055 Upgrade, p. 60
  13. Era Report: 3052, p. 81 "Charles Francis Carranza"
  14. Technical Readout: 3026, p. 40

Bibliography