Illician Lancers

Illician Lancers
Illician Lancers
Formed	2572
Affiliation	Mercenary
Parent Command	Independent
Sub-Command(s)	Fourth Rangers Ninth Rangers Twenty-first Rangers Fifty-ninth Strike Regiment

The Illician Lancers were a Star League multiregiment unit later turned into a mercenary one.

History

Early History

The Illician Lancers brigade was formed in 2572 by members of the Illician Order, an ancient military brotherhood based out of Illicia on the island of Sicily. The Lancers were notable in that the majority of those who went on to form the Lancers left the service of their state voluntarily, rather than through being cashiered; when the brigade mustered, it took less than six months for the Lancers to reach the same size and strength as an oversize 'Mech division.

The Lancers would work for every Star League member state and also for the SLDF for the next two centuries and would see their reputation grow to the point that applications for membership of the Illician Order vastly outstripped the number of available spaces and allowed the Lancers to charge a premium for their services. When the Amaris Civil War erupted, the Lancers continued to support the SLDF, generally in a support capacity, although two regiments from the Lancers, the First and Seventh Illician Rangers, were destroyed during the final assault on Terra. Those who survived the campaign journeyed to Illicia to pay their respects to the fallen, only to discover that the home of their order had been completely levelled.

Succession Wars

During the Succession Wars, the Lancers numbers were reduced further, first to half original strength and then in the 3rd Succession War the Lancers found themselves having to sell most of their JumpShip assets for normal operations to avoid bankruptcy after a disastrous contract with the CCAF. Since leaving Capellan employment the Lancers have been employed by the AFFS and subsequently the AFFC.

The Illician Lancers began their service to House Davion operating on the Draconis Combine border, but after some initial successes suffered a series of defeats that cause the High Command to redeploy them to the Capellan March. After the death of Duke Michael Hasek-Davion the Lancers found allies in Duke Morgan Hasek-Davion and his son, who gave the Lancers a much-needed opportunity to rebuild. This relationship would later allow them to gain access to more advanced technologies, including the occasional item of Clan technology.

The Jihad

The Lancers were heavily involved in Operation Sovereign Justice, the military campaign against the Capellan Confederation launched by Duke George Hasek during the opening stages of the Jihad. Fighting initially on the offensive, the Ninth Illician Rangers were responsible for capturing Sendalor from the St. Cyr's Armored Hussars, taking less than ten percent losses in the process; the remaining three regiments of the Lancers launched as a part of the second wave of attacks, with the Fourth and Twenty-First forming half of a four-regiment strong mercenary strike force that captured Gei-Fu, crushing the 3rd Capellan Defense Force in the process; the other mercenary units involved in the assault on Gei-Fu were identified by some sources as being the 1st Federated Suns Lancers and the 1st Kittery Borderers. The Fifty-Ninth Strike Regiment also faced little resistance initially when it captured Tsingtao.

The war with the Confederation began to turn against Duke Hasek's forces with the third wave; while the Twenty-First Rangers managed to take Imalda and the Ninth Rangers captured Homestead, the Fourth landed on Hexare and found themselves quickly being battered as the planet's defenders were reinforced with the arrival of Renshield's Dragoons. The Fourth found itself in difficult straits because of the superior air support enjoyed by the Dragoons. This forced the Fourth into a defensive stance that became increasingly costly as Capellan forces became increasingly numerous and aggressive, culminating in Major "Rawhide" Francis leading his battalion to cover the retreat of the remaining Fourth Rangers' forces to Uravan after the command company broke in the final days of 3068.

The Ninth Rangers found themselves being hit with a counteroffensive led by two Capellan regiments on Homestead, while Vong's Grenadiers landed on Tsingtao and established a beachhead from which the Fifty-Ninth couldn't displace them. General Bradley managed to hold the Grenadiers back, but the battles between the two forces became a grinding war of attrition that reduced both commands to half strength before the AFFS supply line to Tsingtao suddenly dried up, leaving General Bradley and the Fifty-Ninth with little choice but to retreat to Redfield. The Twenty-First Rangers had landed on Imalda and were forced to fight a guerrilla campaign against elements of the Death Commandos and the 5th Confederation Reserve Cavalry until lack of supplies forced the Twenty-First to retreat just as the Fifty Ninth had, falling back to Sendalor and then Ikast.

Trying to rebuild in the aftermath of Operation Sovereign Justice, all four commands within the Lancers faced difficult circumstances. The Ninth Rangers had been reduced to just two surviving companies, leading to speculation that the Ninth would be folded into one of the other regiments; Major Francis of the Fourth had adopted a take-no-prisoners approach to combat after the grueling battle for Hexare, although the tenacity he inspired in his troops suffered from Francis' difficulty in dealing with complex strategical issues, while both the Fifty-Ninth Strike Regiment and the Twenty-First were undergoing changes in the command-level senior officers within the two regiments after various resignations and reassignments.

During the Jihad the Ninth Rangers were completely destroyed. The Fifty-Ninth Strike Regiment and Fourth Rangers lost half their troops in combat before beginning to rebuild. In 3079 the Illician Lancers were stationed along the Federated Suns/Taurian Concordat border to supplement that area's defenses.

Dark Age

The Lancers continued serving the Federated Suns during the Dark Age era. They participated, under orders of First Prince Julian Davion, in the liberation of New Syrtis, but suffered heavy losses, including colonel Ryan Bradley.

ilClan Era

The dawn of the ilClan era found the Lancers stationed in the quietest sector of the Capellan March, on Kafr Silim. By 3151, they had been ignored for years, and Julian Davion clearly didn't trust them to participate in the liberation of New Avalon, probably for their bad behavior on New Syrtis.

A conclave on 25 May 3151 didn't solve the problem: the Lancers were divided into three camps: one which wanted to ask for a better posting from Julian Davion, one which wanted to follow Duke Alexander Hasek on his invasion of the Taurian Concordat, and the lastone , which was happy to remain where they were and await a change. On 17 June, a Clan Sea Fox DropShip arrived in system. Onboard it was saKhan Ya'el Labov, who asked to meet aboard with Colonel Luciana Araya Morales, the leader of the first faction. Labov had a very daring offer for her: he want her to become general and contract the Sea Foxes as mediators, replacing the MRBC. He offered the Lancers a present: the keystone of the original Illician Brotherhood on Sicily, and the promise that, if they accept, they will be given the monastery and the surrounding land in perpetuity. After a new conclave, and a heated debate, Luciana was choosen new general and she accepted Labov's offer.

Labov succeeded, as the Lancers were relocated to the Dragon's Tongue' area, playing some part in their reconquest. In early 3152, the Lancers' Twenty-First Rangers was stationed on the planet Brundage, and they were attacked by the Forty-Fifth Samarkand Regulars in a three-week campaign which forced the Lancers to retreat, leaving the world to the Combine.

Officers

Rank	Name	Command
Commanding Officers of the Illician Lancers
General	Ellaine Steward	3025
General	Brenda Bradley	circa 3029 - 3050
General	Cassius	circa 3145 - 3151
General	Luciana Araya Morales	3151 -

Traditions

The Lancers were an atypical group who keep their traditions for centuries. The choosing of leadership is a key matters: every few months, all high rank officers made a meeting, called Conclave, where a group of Elders select an officer as leader and give them the title General. The General can be reelected after a six-year term. The Colonels are also elected by this group.

In the Conclaves, the Lancers keep an arch of stones said to come from their destroyed monastery on Sicily. The arch was incomplete, missing the keystone with the Illician Order's seal, but around it there were regimental sashes honoring the long ago destroyed Illician regiments. Under the arch every new Lancer is sworn in, and every potential Elder meditates under it before their solemn vows.

Support

The Unit owns 1 Star Lord-class and 1 Invader-class JumpShip and must hire additional assets for the transportation of the entire Brigade. The Brigade has enough DropShips to support their full range of operations.

Units of the Illican Lancers

• First Rangers
• Fourth Rangers
• Seventh Rangers
• Ninth Rangers
• Twenty-first Rangers
• Fifty-ninth Strike
• plus three other regiments.

3025

Illician Lancers (4 Regiments/Regular/Reliable)

• CO: General Ellaine Steward

Note: At this point in time the unit was stationed on Jonzac.

3040

Illician Lancers

• Fourth Rangers (Regiment/Regular/Reliable)
• Ninth Rangers (Regiment/Green/Reliable)
• Twenty-first Rangers (Regiment/Regular/Reliable)
• Fifty-ninth Strike (Regiment/Veteran/Reliable)

3050

Illician Lancers (4 Regiment)

• Fourth Rangers (Regiment/Regular/Reliable)(3rd Illician Lancers)
• Ninth Rangers (Regiment/Green/Reliable)(4th Illician Lancers)
• Twenty-first Rangers (Regiment/Regular/Reliable)(2nd Illician Lancers)
• Fifty-ninth Strike (Regiment/Veteran/Reliable)(1st Illician Lancers)

3067

Illician Lancers (4 Regiments)

• Fourth Illician Rangers - Alicia's Lovers
• Ninth Illician Rangers - Roadrunners - Destroyed in the Jihad.
• Twenty-first Illician Rangers - Drop-And-Stop
• Fifty-ninth Strike Regiment - Bradley's Bad Boys
• - By 3067 the Lancers had been able to rebuild their strength from a bare four 'Mech regiments into a square brigade once again, with each 'Mech regiment being supported by a regiment of armor, a mechanized infantry regiment and a fighter wing.

3145

Illician Lancers (2 Regiments)

• Twenty-first Rangers (Veteran/Reliable)

• CO: Colonel Ryan Bradley

• Fifty-ninth Striker (Veteran/Reliable)

• CO: Colonel Kenneth Ramaley

- As of 3145 both of the regiments within the Illician Lancers were "A"-rated units; the Twenty-first Rangers were at eighty-five percent of full strength and stationed in the Brundage system, while the Fifty-ninth Striker were at sixty-five percent of full strength and stationed in the Rosamond system.

Notes

3067

• When determining unit composition, any unit within the Lancers may roll on the Federated Suns Random Assignment Tables from Field Manual: Updates or Field Manual: Federated Suns, but at a category one lower than the listed rating for that unit.

3071

• The same rule for unit availability applies in 3071, although many of the sub-unit rules have changed.

Bibliography

• 20 Year Update
• Combat Manual: Mercenaries
• Field Manual: 3145
• Field Report: AFFS
• Historical: War of 3039
• House Davion (The Federated Suns)
• Jihad Secrets: The Blake Documents
• Mercenaries Supplemental
• Mercenaries Supplemental Update
• Riptides (novella)