Broadsword Legion

Broadsword Legion.svg
Broadsword Legion
Disbanded The Jihad
Affiliation Mercenary
Parent Command Independent

Owing their formation to Unit-CO Kari Marita's refusal to accept Victor Steiner-Davion's elevation as Precentor Martial of ComStar, the Broadsword Legion consists primarily of members of the Com Guard 166th Division.[1]

History[edit]

Future unit CO Kari Marita was one of the survivors of the 166th Division's involvement in the Battle of Tukayyid. The 166th defended Skupo in that engagement. They faced Natasha Kerensky's famed Thirteenth Wolf Guards, the so-called Wolf Spiders. The Spiders were able to slip in behind them.[2] The 166th was almost destroyed following a days-long, off-and-on battle against Kerensky's unit.[3] The 166th was struggling to rebuild, and Marita was promoted to Demi-Precentor and assigned command of the unit.[4][1]

ComStar's efforts to rebuild the 166th suffered a mortal blow when Marita chose to resign upon Victor Steiner-Davion becoming Precentor Martial. Marita was unwilling to serve under the deposed House Lord. Unlike many Com Guard defectors, the ambitious but principled Marita did not choose to join the Word of Blake but instead traveled to Outreach with her battered Thug to become a mercenary,[5] with the 166th steadily shrinking as over 30 percent of her former soldiers chose to follow her,[6] convincing their old CO to form her own command.

In 3066 the Broadsword Legion was undergoing training exercises and wargames with the Chaos Irregulars.[7] As of 3067 the Legion were still undergoing months of training on Outreach to ensure the smooth operation of the new unit and host of new tactics.[1][8]

Jihad[edit]

Hired by the Allied Mercenary Command in the face of Word of Blake's assault against Outreach. They sided with the Blakists but only answered to the chain of command, and as Waco had killed his representative, Leopold Jenkins, they did not respond to Wayne Waco's calls for support.[9]

The Legion stayed out of the First Harlech battle, but sided with Wolf's Dragoons in a few isolated moments.[10]

Initially, they stayed beside the Dragoons after the beginning of Second Harlech battle. Then, when fighting alongside Wolf Spider Battalion, legacy holder of Natasha Kerensky's Black Widow Company, the Legion turned against the Wolf Spiders. They crushed Tarantula Trinary and lured the Black Widow Trinary into a trap, breaking the back of the Dragoons defense while suffering heavy losses in the process.[11][12]

However, their betrayal only enraged the Dragoons, who managed to defeat the Blakists on ground. The only known success of the Legion's attack was the almost total annihilation of the Wolf Spiders, almost destroyed before. After that action, the unit was branded by the AMC as a Wanted/Rogue unit. The unit was branded "Wanted dead or alive for: crimes against humanity, war crimes, severe breach of faith", with its last known whereabouts being Outreach.[13]

After Second Harlech, every Dragoon sworn to avenge the Legion's betrayal with blood.[14] A heavily-damaged Legion was left with Wannamaker's Widowmakers to garrison Outreach in 3069. They opposed the landing of the reborn Black Widow Company in early 3070, led by Stacy Church, leader and only known survivor of the Wolf Spiders. Though they were unable to stop them from going to ground.[15] The Broadsword Legion was effectively destroyed in April 3071 as the remnants of the Dragoons on Outreach coordinated an assault on the treacherous mercenary unit. A handful of Legionnaires managed to escape and make it off-world, including Kari Marita.[16] By 3081 the Broadsword Legion was considered to have been wiped out.[17]

Officers[edit]

Rank Name Command
Commanding Officers of Broadsword Legion
Colonel Kari Marita 3061 - 3071

Tactics[edit]

The Legion prefers to operate in urban and nighttime settings, being noted for skills in close combat, ambushes and sniping tactics.

Composition[edit]

Created by former Com Guard officers, the Broadsword Legion has stayed true to its origins, organizing as a Level III-Rho unit and a good portion of the command's 'Mechs and vehicles are old Star League designs.

In Successor State military terms, the Legion is organized in three mixed companies, each comprised of two demi-companies each. They do not use lances but instead subdivide the demi-companies into three two-unit squads, an arrangement that gives them tactical flexibility to meet opponents who may underestimate the troop strength they are facing.

  • Excalibur Company - Colonel Kari Marita

The Legion's command element, Excalibur contains a demi-company of 'Mechs and Hovertanks. Only Colonel Marita's Thug is equipped with Clantech, two ER PPCs, the rest of her MechWarriors use older designs with more mundane and reliable modifications.

  • Toledan Company - Captain Nicole Doles

Toledan is made up of a demi-company of C3i 'Mechs and one of battle armor, a mixture of Raiden, Kanazuchi, and a squad of Purifiers, carried on either Bandit or Blizzard hover transports or one of two modified Cavalry transport VTOLs. After the Word of Blake used nuclear weapons and orbital bombardment on Outreach, Captain Doles deserted from the Legion and took her company with her.[18]

  • Claymore Company - Captain Elizabeth Joyce

The Legion's heavy assault force, Claymore's 'Mechs are Star League era heavy and assault designs supported by a demi-company of heavy tracked vehicles and two Clan Jagatai OmniFighters.

Notes[edit]

  • All Legion units are painted gunmetal gray, with the unit insignia a bronze Roman legionnaire shield with the old ComStar logo on its face, a broadsword pointed down set on top of the shield.
  • Thanks to their hatred of Victor, the Broadsword Legion steadfastly refused to accept any contracts with the Federated Suns or Lyran Alliance.
  • The unit's support section consists of former ComStar technicians equal to 50 percent support, and a single Triumph-class DropShip named the Damocles modified to transport the entire unit.[1]
  • As of 3067, the green ranked Legion had a solid C Dragoon Rating reflecting purely a lack of action as mercenaries, despite a level of actual combat experience far exceeding such a level.

Unit Scheme[edit]

Colonel Marita would order all her personnel to paint their equipment in gunmetal gray.[19]

BattleMech Gallery[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Field Manual: Mercenaries, Revised, p. 49
  2. ↑ Tukayyid, p. 90
  3. ↑ Wolf Clan Sourcebook, p. 51
  4. ↑ ComStar, p. 85
  5. ↑ Field Manual: ComStar, p. 26
  6. ↑ Field Manual: Updates, p. 85
  7. ↑ Crossroads at Outreach
  8. ↑ Field Manual: Updates, p. 184
  9. ↑ An Ice-Cold Dish p. 171
  10. ↑ Mercenaries Supplemental Update, p. 16
  11. ↑ Blake Ascending, p. 35
  12. ↑ The Day After
  13. ↑ Dawn of the Jihad, p. 36: "MRBC Advisory: Updates to Rogue/Wanted List"
  14. ↑ Starterbook: Wolf and Blake, p. 17
  15. ↑ Starterbook: Wolf and Blake, p. 18
  16. ↑ Starterbook: Wolf and Blake, p. 19
  17. ↑ Jihad: Final Reckoning, p. 120: "The Condemned"
  18. ↑ Technical Readout: 3058 Upgrade, p. 216
  19. ↑ Field Manual: Mercenaries, Revised, p. 49

Bibliography[edit]

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