1st Calderon Guard
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| First Calderon Guard | |
| Formed | 3072[1] |
| Nickname | The President's Own[2] |
| Affiliation | Calderon Protectorate |
| Parent Command | Calderon Guard |
Contents
History
Founding
The First Calderon Guard was founded in 3072 along with its two sister regiments, the Second and Third Calderon Guards. Officially, the Calderon Guard was a brigade, but each regiment started with humble beginnings and grew at the same rate. The avowed purpose of the Calderon Guard was to curtail the increase in pirate raids against the Calderon Protectorate since the beginning of the Jihad.[1]
The Jihad
By 3075 the First had reached only a single mixed, reinforced company in strength; much of the equipment being supplied to the First and her sister regiments had been acquired outside the Calderon Protectorate and smuggled in via various routes. Some of the equipment even originated as far away as the Federated Suns and the Magistracy of Canopus; speculation was that while the Federated Suns industries supplying the material were intending for the Protectorate forces to counterbalance the push into Federated Suns space by the Taurian Concordat, the material being supplied through the Magistracy actually originated with various Free Worlds League companies. It was also considered likely that sympathetic elements within the Concordat had been providing supplies, up until the combination of the asteroid strikes at the heart of the Concordat and a devastating campaign by FedSuns mercenaries that targetted the Taurian industrial base choked off the supply.[1]
The largest problem facing the First by the middle of the Jihad was a singular lack of manpower; each regiment within the Guard needed a supply of skilled, vetted recruits, but the Protectorate lacked any formal military training establishment, and much of the Protectorate consisted of either mining outposts or agrarian settlements. The bulk of the manpower for the First actually consisted of Concordat expatriates, and the number of expatriates dwindled sharply as the Jihad went on. This situation was unlikely to improve until after the construction of the New Hope Military University, which wasn't predicted to begin training its first class until 3079.[1]
One of those involved in assisting with the expansion of the various Guard regiments was Talia Martens, Captain of the "First" Prey's Divisionals and mother of the Protector-designate, Erik Martens-Calderon.[3] Despite the troubles the First and the other regiments of the Guard were experiencing in reaching full strength the Calderon Protectorate Force made a great deal of noise about their rising strength - a measure apparently intended to dissuade both pirates and the Taurian leadership from attacking the Protectorate. Pirate attacks on the Protectorate actually dropped in the wake of the asteroid bombardment of Taurus, but Baron Cham Kithrong continued to direct resources into allowing the Guard to expand.[1]
By 3079 the First had reached approximately one-fifth of full size - still far from their intended strength, but a notable achievement given the reduction in size of their Taurian counterparts. It was still considered likely to be years before the First reached full strength, but the CPF was diligent in ensuring that the First and its sister regiments grew at an equal pace, ensuring that there could be no charges of favoritism in how the various regiments were treated.[4]
Dark Age
The First were based on Gaul for a number of years, and as such faced many of the pirate bands willing to run the risk presented by the Quixote-class missile frigate CPS Redemption and attempt to raid the worlds of the Protectorate. As a combined-arms unit the First constantly trained to take full advantage of all of the assets available to the regiment, particularly the basic tactical doctrine of using overlapping fields of fire from the tanks and infantry to wear down attacking forces, rather than relying solely on their BattleMech assets. The commanding officer of the First, Colonel Ernst Vallejo, was demoted to Brigadier and reassigned to command of the First's Second Battalion for forgetting - or ignoring - this doctrine during a pirate raid in 3083, leading his 'Mechs out to face pirates unsupported. Ernst's victory cost the Guards more than a lance in casualties when the raiders outflanked the First and cut down a number of 'Mechs, casualties that could have been avoided if the First hadn't been forced to fight in a manner outside that taught by their years of drill. Vallejo's replacement was Colonel Cohen Kithrong, son of Baron Cham Kithrong, who was transferred into the First on promotion from his previous posting in the Second Taurian Pride.[2]
By the mid-thirty-second century the First were perhaps the most experienced command within the Calderon Guard, and the resulting reputation attached to the regiment went a long way towards ensuring that smaller pirate bands avoided both the First and any system they happened to be stationed in. This made the First the obvious choice to garrison the Belle Isle system after the Protectorate government invested hundreds of billions of C-bills in the system. The First were still stationed in the Belle Isle system in 3145, and were responsible for guarding both the planet and the other installations in the system, which included asteroid mining facilities, ore processing stations and a massive solar shade that had been constructed at the planet's L1 LaGrange point; the requirement to constantly patrol the system had made the First adept at operations conducted in zero gravity.[5]
Officers
| Rank | Name | Command | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Commanding Officers of the 1st Calderon Guard | |||
| Colonel | Ernst Vallejo | 3083[2] | |
| Colonel | Cohen Kithrong | 3083[2] | |
| Colonel | Geir Kaluza | 3085[2] | |
Tactics
Unknown.
Composition History
3079
First Calderon Guard (Green/Reliable)[4]
At this point the First Calderon Guard were deployed to Gaul and were operating at just one-fifth of full strength, as were the First's two sister regiments. The First also had no access to advanced technology.
3085
First Calderon Guard (Regular/Reliable)[6]
- CO: Colonel Geir Kaluza
At ths point the First Calderon Guard were still stationed on Marknick and were operating at forty-five percent of full strength, although they still had no access to advanced technology.[6]
3145
First Calderon Guard (Elite/Reliable)[7]
- CO: Colonel Jarvis Humphrey
At this point in time the First Calderon Guard were stationed in the Belle Isle system and had grown to five percent above full strength.[5]
Notes
Game Rules
3145
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 Masters & Minions: The StarCorps Dossiers, p. 193, "Calderon Guard"
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 Field Manual: 3085, p. 145, "First Calderon Guard
- ↑ Masters & Minions: The StarCorps Dossiers, p. 188, "Talia Martens"
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Field Report: Periphery, p. 13, "Calderon Protectorate"
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Field Manual: 3145, p. 198, "Calderon Protectorate"
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Field Manual: 3085, p. 151, "Calderon Protectorate
- ↑ Field Manual: 3145, p. 203, "Calderon Guard"
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 Field Manual: 3145, p. 210, "Calderon Protectorate"