Editing Gerhardt Hansen (31st c.)

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| name                = Gerhardt Hansen
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| affiliation         = [[House Hansen]]
| rank                = [[Colonel]]
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| children            = [[Wolfgang Hansen]]
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'''Gerhardt Hansen''' was the commanding officer of the [[Hansen's Roughriders]] during their inception as a [[mercenary unit]] in the first half of the [[thirty-first century]].

He was the grandson of [[Ludwig Hansen (30th c.)|Ludwig Hansen]], who had led the regiment that would become the Roughriders in their escape from (unwarranted) purges from [[House Davion]] into the [[Free Worlds League]] in [[2961]] where they merged into the [[Twelfth Atrean Dragoons]] regiment which was commanded by their distant relative and Gerhardt's namesake, [[Major-General]] [[Gerhardt Hansen (30th c.)|Gerhardt Hansen]].<ref name=MS37>''Mercenaries Supplemental'', p. 37</ref><ref name=CMM>''Combat Manual: Mercenaries'', p. 44</ref>

==Biography==
===Anton's Revolt===
In [[3014]] the Twelfth Atrean Dragoons under Colonel [[Francis Ferdinand]] sided with Duke [[Anton Marik]] in [[Marik Civil War (31st c.)|his revolt]] against his [[Janos Marik|brother]].<ref>''Historical: Brush Wars'', p. 18</ref>

Despite being slightly understrength, the Twelfth fought with great skill and success in the civil war, but in the ill-fated Operation Condor they suffered great losses on [[Calloway VI]]. Surrounded and decimated, the remnants of the Twelfth Atrean Dragoons surrendered to loyalist forces in November 3014.<ref>''Historical: Brush Wars'', pp. 29, 37</ref> 

Although Ferdinand commanded the rebellious Twelfth Atrean Dragoons up until the battle of [[Matheran]],<ref>''Historical: Brush Wars'', p. 23</ref> Gerhard Hansen, an influential [[House Marik]] officer at the time, was named as the man who led the unit in the uprising.<ref name=JS79>''Jihad Secrets: The Blake Documents'', p. 79</ref><ref>''MechWarrior (1st Ed.)'', p. 117</ref> Context suggests Hansen probably assumed command sometime during the fighting on Matheran.

===Hansen's Roughriders===
[[Image:HansesRoughridersOriginalCrest.jpg|thumb|left|Hansen's Roughriders]]In any case, Gerhardt Hansen was in command when the remnant of the Twelfth Atrean Dragoons, together with other disenchanted Marik forces, turned their back on the Free Worlds League after the failed rebellion and went into exile, re-forming as the mercenary regiment Hansen's Roughriders under his command following one final battle on [[Ilion]] V, which at the time was a deserted planet in [[Lyran Commonwealth]] space just beyond the contested Lyran/Free Worlds League border.<ref name=BT>''BattleTech'' 2nd Ed. rulebook, Hansen's Roughrider infobox</ref> (It remains unclear if they fought Marik or Steiner forces on Ilion V, or possibly among themselves.)

In [[3018]], their first contract brought them into service with [[House Steiner]]'s Lyran Commonwealth proper. It is unclear what the unit had been doing in the two or three intervening years, though the Roughriders' somewhat famous assault on the Marik academy world of [[New Olympia]] may have occurred in this timeframe before they went to work for House Steiner as mercenaries.

Stationed on [[Suk II]], Hansen's Roughriders—under Gerhardt Hansen's able leadership—quickly gained renown and media attention as the archetype of the rowdy but successful mercenary. In [[3019]] they became one of the very few units to ever beat the famed [[Wolf's Dragoons]] on the battlefield during the hard-fought defense of [[Hesperus II]] in the [[Thirteenth Battle of Hesperus II]]. Later on they participated in numerous successful campaigns and during the [[Fourth Succession War]] were noted for both competence and fairness in their conquest of several [[Draconis Combine]] worlds including [[Wheel]], [[Hainfeld]] and [[Satalice]].

The unit as a whole made peace with [[House Davion]] after the Fourth Succession War, and under a deal sponsored by [[Katrina Steiner]] were loaned to House Davion for a well-paid, easy plum posting to garrison [[Bromhead]].<ref name=FMM>''Field Manual: Mercenaries'', p. 59</ref>

Gerhardt Hansen initially aimed to retire after the [[War of 3039]] and hand over command of the unit to his son, [[Wolfgang Hansen]], who had been groomed as his designated successor since coming of age. However, during the War of 3039 the Roughriders suffered heavy casualties on [[Pike IV]] and Wolfgang's performance in the defense of the city of [[Mercator]] in particular was rated poorly. As a consequence, Gerhardt Hansen pushed back his retirement until [[3044]] while Wolfgang underwent rigorous extra training.<ref name=CMM/><ref name=TRO39>''Technical Readout: 3039'', p. 164</ref> In 3044, Gerhardt entrusted Hansen's Roughriders to Wolfgang and retired.

==BattleMech==
As of ca. 3039, Colonel Gerhardt Hansen and his son, Major Wolfgang Hansen, were noted for piloting the two CP-10-Z ''[[Cyclops]]'' 'Mechs with functional [[Tacticon B-2000 Battle Computer]]s that the unit possessed.<ref name=TRO39/>

==References==
<references/>

==Bibliography==
* ''[[Combat Manual: Mercenaries]]''
* ''[[Field Manual: Mercenaries]]''
* ''[[Historical: Brush Wars]]''
* ''[[Jihad Secrets: The Blake Documents]]''
* ''[[MechWarrior: The BattleTech Role Playing Game]]'' (1st Ed.)
* ''[[Technical Readout: 3039]]''


[[Category:Free Worlds League Characters|Hansen, Gerhardt]]
[[Category:Mercenary Characters|Hansen, Gerhardt]]
[[Category:Notable Cyclops Pilots|Hansen, Gerhardt]]