Marduk

Revision as of 11:08, 19 November 2019 by CungrVanck (talk | contribs) (Added info from FM 3145)
This article is undergoing revision as part of Project: Planets, a collaborative effort to improve BattleTechWiki's coverage of planets and systems. If you would like to participate, please visit the project page, where you can add your name to the list of volunteers.

This article has completed Phase 2 of the Overhaul effort.

Property "Update Needed From" (as page type) with input value "FedCom Civil War (sourcebook)]],Historical: War of 3039, [[House Davion (The Federated Suns)" contains invalid characters or is incomplete and therefore can cause unexpected results during a query or annotation process.

Marduk
System Information
X:Y Coordinates208.335 : 59.926[e]
Spectral classG8II[1][2][3]
Recharge time185 hours[2][3]
Recharge station(s)None[1][2][3]

Note: X and Y are coordinates (light years on XY plane) relative to Terra at (0, 0)

Template:InfoBoxPlanetStandard

Political Affiliation

Planetary History

Star League Era

Marduk has the dubious honor of being the first planet to be attacked in what would become known as the Second Hidden War, when the Eleventh Benjamin Regulars crossed the border between the Draconis Combine and the Federated Suns and struck at Marduk on the 9th of March 2725. The AFFS struck back at the Combine, launching troops against Marduk and across the border into Combine space, but were quickly pushed back by the better prepared DCMS forces. The Second Hidden War would only end after the Star League Defense Force launched Operation SMOTHER, deploying five Divisions of troops to separate the combatants, impose order and restore the border to its pre-war state.[51]

Succession Wars

First Succession War

In May 2787 the Draconis Combine launched a massive invasion of the Federated Suns. The invasion was so swift and targeted communications and JumpShips so effectively that many border systems didn't have a chance to transmit warnings or alerts, leading to widespread confusion on the part of the Armed Forces of the Federated Suns. This led to conflicting orders being issued, including orders for the mercenary unit Tyson's Troublemakers - formerly the SLDF Twenty-third Heavy Assault Regiment - to withdraw from Marduk. While the Troublemakers were withdrawing, other AFFS units were receiving orders to hold firm on Cussar and Galtor III.[15]

In 2818 Marduk was liberated in the third and final major AFFS counter-offensive of the First Succession War against the Draconis Combine. Marduk was one of the last three worlds to be liberated by the Federated Suns.[17]

Third Succession Wars

This Black Widow Company engaged elements of the 21st Centauri Lancers during the Twelfth Battle of Marduk.[52] (see notes)

In 3024, the Moroushi's Independent Assault Battalion (that was part of the Galtor III Campaign executed by the DCMS) raided Marduk during the first wave of operations[53]. The unit crushed the defending units hereby cutting Galtor of any kind of reinforcements.

Three months later, the battalion was crushed in a hot drop assault by Meade's Battalion of the 33rd Avalon Hussars on top of the Kurita position. The Kurita Union-class DropShip Electrophore was involved in the battle.[54]

  • Notes

In Tales of the Black Widow Company, it says that the Black Widow Company engaged elements of the 21st Centauri Lancers during the Twelfth Battle of Marduk[55], but the unit was in House Marik employment at that time, so this seems improbable.

Fourth Succession War

During the early months of the Fourth Succession War Coordinator Takashi Kurita was focused on his conflict with the Wolf's Dragoons mercenary brigade, but following pleas for help from Chancellor Maximilian Liao the DCMS planned and launched additional offensives against perceived weak spots on the Federated Suns border. The Galtor Thumb region was one such weak spot, and Marduk was invaded by the Second Amphigean Light Assault Group. The planetary militia on Marduk consisted of aging 'Mechs piloted by old pilots and a few regiments of conventional forces, which were swiftly defeated by the LAG. Despite the militia being easily beaten, an extensive guerrilla resistance campaign began on Marduk that would continue to dog the DCMS forces on the planet, even though the Combine officially considered the planet to have been annexed in early January 3029.[28]

FedCom Civil War

Marduk was a priority targeted of Duke James Sandoval unauthorized invasion of the Draconis Combine in the midst of the FedCom Civil War, Sandoval sending the green First Chisholm's Raiders to take the important BattleMech manufacturing world from the equally green Twenty-second Benjamin Regulars. [56]

Landing on the planet on the 22nd of December 3062, the Raiders initial plan on striking the capital of New Pontiac was set aside when they realized that while the 22nd Benjamin defended the whole world, the sole defenders in proximity to the Victory Industries BattleMech plant was the company's own security forces, a combined arms regiment with a battalion of OmniMechs. While taking heavy losses, the Raiders secured tenuous control over sections of the Victory plant before the 22nd Benjamin Regulars finally learned of the attack. [56]

With the 22nd striking out from New Pontiac, over 120 kms from Victory plant, the 1st Chisholm's CO General Neece had sent the 23rd Breed Recon Regiment to delay them. The dense Tillerbee Jungle allowed the 23rd to stage ambush after ambush, preventing the 22nd Benjamin from reaching the Victory complex before the Raiders finished securing it on December 26th. While the Raiders spent the next eight days recuperating and reequipping from weapons and 'Mechs stockpiled at the factory, the 22nd had pushed within 20km of the Victory factories. [56]

Splitting her forces, Neece dispatched two of her 'Mech battalions to perform an orbital drop on New Pontiac as the bait to lure the Twenty-second Benjamin out of the jungle while her infantry and armor prepared to encircle them in a pincer movement to trap and destroy 22nd. Luck was with the 22nd however when animosity between the Chisholm 'Mech and Combat Vehicle elements boiled over and the 1st Chisholm Armor Brigade attacked before the Chisholm 'Mechs were in position, allowing the 22nd to escape the trap mostly intact and retreat west to a secondary base at Tauto. [56]

Infighting between the First's 'Mech and armor elements would continue to hamper the Raider's efforts to pin-down and defeat the 22nd Regulars, resulting in two weeks of frustrating hit-and-run battles. Finally fed-up, General Neece purged the command staff of her armored forces and on January 19th 3063 a finally coordinated attack caught two mixed battalions of the 22nd Regulars in the Guland River Valley, followed two days later by the surrender of another Regulars battalion after a particularly long and devastating artillery assault. With only third of the 22nd Benjamin Regulars left, compounded by the capture of its CO Tai-sa Dirks on January 24th, the bulk of the Chisholm's Rangers pulled back to New Pontiac on the 25th, leaving a single mixed arms regiment to mop them up. [56]

The arrival of additional reinforcements finally allowed the First Chisholm's Rangers to focus their entire attention upon surviving battalion of the 22nd Benjamin Regulars in March 3063. Cornering the DCMS unit on March 21st on the edge of the freezing Ku'ulu Glacier as they attempted to cross and reach the relative safety of the Ko Nami'i Mountains, strikes from Ranger's few few remaining fighters and VTOLs could not contain them, forcing General Neece to reluctantly risk a battalion of jump capable 'Mechs. The Chisholm 'Mechs quickly caught up with the fleeing 22nd, half of the Regulars destroyed by the FedSun forces, the other half buried by avalanches or falling through the ice into deep water as the ice shelf weakened due to the shocks of the battle. [57] [58]

The Jihad

Manufacturing on this important industrial world was largely unaffected by the Jihad, with the former Norse BattleMech Works plant located in or near New Pontiac continuing to turn out high-quality 'Mechs under the new name of Victory Industries.[3] With the devastation inflicted on Luthien Armor Works Victory Industries was one of the companies responsible for compensating for the loss in production, producing LAW-designed equipment from three different manufacturing lines established in the 3060s.[59]

However, after centuries of heavy industrial activity geological reports indicating massive metal ore depletion in the Tillerbee Jungle region attracted concern from the Combine central government. While geologists reported that the deposit should be sufficient to continue supporting production at the same level for several more decades, local manufacturers were beginning to call for additional resources to support future production efforts, possibly threatening the self-sufficiency that made Marduk such an important industrial world in the first place.[3]

Local Fauna

Military Deployment

2764

2765

2786

  • First Avalon Hussars[64]
  • Thirty-seventh Robinson Chevaliers[65]

2787

2821

3028

3040

3050

  • Sixth Benjamin Regulars[69]

3054

3059

  • Twenty-second Benjamin Regulars[71]

3145

Industrial Centers

Nearby Planets

Planets within 2 jumps (60 light-years)
Closest planets first:
Planet Distance (LY) Jumps 2750 3025 3030 3040 3052 3057 3062
Tripoli 11.32 1 DC DC DC DC DC DC DC
McComb 14.28 1 FS FS DC FC FC FC FC
Deshler 16.10 1 FS FS DC DC DC DC DC
Galtor III 19.56 1 FS FS DC DC DC DC DC
Paris 20.86 1 DC DC DC DC DC DC DC
Royal 21.23 1 FS FS DC FC FC FC FC
Harpster 23.23 1 FS FS DC DC DC DC DC
Breed 24.17 1 DC FS FS FC FC FC FC
Lima 28.29 1 FS FS DC FC FC FC FC
New Mendham 29.47 1 FS DC DC DC DC DC DC
Donenac 30.31 2 DC DC DC DC DC DC DC
Wapakoneta 31.68 2 FS FS DC DC DC DC DC
New Ivaarsen 31.72 2 FS FS FS FC FC FC FC
Dobson 34.17 2 FS FS FS FC FC FC FC
Barlow's Folly 36.15 2 FS DC DC DC DC DC DC
Marlowe's Rift 38.74 2 DC DC DC DC DC DC DC
Reisling's Planet 38.92 2 DC DC DC DC DC DC DC
Arlington 40.40 2 DC DC DC DC DC DC DC
Le Blanc 42.01 2 FS FS FS FC FC FC FC
Irurzun 43.79 2 DC DC DC DC DC DC DC
Klathandu IV 44.02 2 DC FS DC DC DC DC DC
Scheat 44.12 2 DC DC DC DC DC DC DC
Matar 46.82 2 DC DC DC DC DC DC DC
Crossing 47.15 2 FS FS FS FC FC FC FC
Ludwig 49.75 2 DC DC DC DC DC DC DC
New Aberdeen 52.42 2 FS FS DC DC DC DC DC
Doneval II 52.53 2 FS FS FS FC FC FC FC
Lucerne 53.54 2 FS FS FS FC FC FC FC
Gandy's Luck 53.85 2 DC DC DC DC DC DC DC
Benet III 55.06 2 FS FS FS FC FC FC FC
Harrow's Sun 55.14 2 FS FS DC DC DC DC DC
Proserpina 55.66 2 DC DC DC DC DC DC DC
Xhosa VII 57.54 2 FS FS FS FC FC FC FC

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 House Davion (The Federated Suns), p. 198, "Marduk Planet Guide"
  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 FedCom Civil War (sourcebook), p. 203, "Marduk Planet Profile"
  3. 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 Objectives: Draconis Combine, p. 21, "Marduk"
  4. Handbook: House Kurita, p. 18, "Draconis Combine Founding" - [2319] Map
  5. Handbook: House Davion, p. 48, "Federated Suns after Age of War - [2571] Map"
  6. Handbook: House Kurita, p. 31, "Draconis Combine after Age of War - [2571] Map"
  7. Historical: Reunification War, p. 159, "Inner Sphere - [2596]" Map
  8. Era Report: 2750, p. 37, "Inner Sphere - [2750] Map"
  9. Field Manual: SLDF, "Inner Sphere - [2764] Map"
  10. Historical: Liberation of Terra Volume 1, p. 11, "Inner Sphere - [2765] Map"
  11. Field Report 2765: Federated Suns, p. 29, "Federated Suns Armed Forces Deployment Map - [2765]"
  12. Field Report 2765: Draconis Combine, p. 25, "Draconis Combine Mustered Soldiery Deployment Map - [2765]"
  13. First Succession War (Source Book), p. 24, "Inner Sphere - [2786] Map"
  14. 14.0 14.1 House Kurita (The Draconis Combine), p. 54, "The Dragon Strikes"
  15. 15.0 15.1 15.2 First Succession War, p. 38, "The Dragon's Reckoning: The Combine-Suns Front"
  16. First Succession War, p. 44, "Draconis Combine-Federated Suns Front 2786-2796"
  17. 17.0 17.1 First Succession War, p. 98, "The Davion Counter-Offensives"
  18. Handbook: House Kurita, p. 43, "Draconis Combine after First Succession War - [2822] Map"
  19. Handbook: House Davion, p. 54, "Federated Suns after First Succession War - [2822] Map"
  20. Historical: Liberation of Terra Volume 2, p. 122, "Inner Sphere - [2822] Map"
  21. First Succession War (Source Book), p. 112, "Inner Sphere - [2822] Map"
  22. Handbook: House Kurita, p. 53, "Draconis Combine after Second Succession War - [2864] Map"
  23. Handbook: House Davion, p. 60, "Federated Suns after Second Succession War - [2864] Map"
  24. House Kurita (The Draconis Combine), "Draconis Combine Map - [3025]"
  25. Handbook: House Kurita, p. 64, "Draconis Combine after Third Succession War - [3025] Map"
  26. House Davion (The Federated Suns), "Federated Suns - [3025] Map"
  27. Handbook: House Davion, p. 70, "Federated Suns after Third Succession War - [3025] Map"
  28. 28.0 28.1 NAIS The Fourth Succession War Military Atlas Volume 1, p. 80, "Other Actions"
  29. Handbook: House Kurita, p. 66, "Draconis Combine after Fourth Succession War - [3030] Map"
  30. Handbook: House Davion, p. 71, "Federated Suns after Fourth Succession War - [3030] Map"
  31. Historical: War of 3039, p. 133, "Inner Sphere - [3040] Map"
  32. Handbook: House Davion, p. 76, "Federated Suns after War of 3039 Map"
  33. Handbook: House Kurita, p. 68, "Draconis Combine after War of 3039 - [3040] Map"
  34. Era Report: 3052, p. 11, "Inner Sphere - [3050] Map"
  35. Era Report: 3052, p. 23, "Inner Sphere - [3052] Map"
  36. Era Report: 3062, p. 11, Inner Sphere - [3057] Map
  37. ">Handbook: House Davion, p. 78, "Federated Suns after Operation Guerrero - [3058] Map"
  38. Era Report: 3062, p. 29, Inner Sphere - [3063] Map
  39. Handbook: House Kurita, p. 74, "Draconis Combine after FedCom Civil War - [3067] Map"
  40. Handbook: House Davion, p. 82, "Federated Suns after FedCom Civil War - [3067] Map"
  41. Jihad: Final Reckoning, p. 42, "Inner Sphere - [October 3067] Map"
  42. Jihad Secrets: The Blake Documents, p. 65, "Inner Sphere - [3075] Map"
  43. Field Report: DCMS, p. 21, "Draconis Combine Mustered Soldiery Deployment Map - [August 3079]"
  44. Field Report: AFFS, p. 21, "Armed Forces of the Federated Suns Deployment Map - [August 3079]"
  45. Jihad: Final Reckoning, p. 63, "Inner Sphere - [3081] Map"
  46. Field Manual: 3085, p. Vii, "Inner Sphere - [3085] Map"
  47. Map of the Inner Sphere, 3130
  48. Era Report: 3145, p. 11, "Inner Sphere - [3135] Map"
  49. Era Report: 3145, p. 39, "Inner Sphere Map - [3145]"
  50. Field Manual: 3145, p. VI, "Inner Sphere - [3145] Map"
  51. Historical: Liberation of Terra Volume 1, p. 18, "A Plague On Both Your Houses: The War of Davion Succession (Second Hidden War)"
  52. Tales of the Black Widow Company, pp. 26-27
  53. The Galtor Campaign, p. 13 "Phase One Units"
  54. The Galtor Campaign, p. 70 Decision at Marduk
  55. Tales of the Black Widow Company, pp. 26-27
  56. 56.0 56.1 56.2 56.3 56.4 FedCom Civil War, pp. 44-46, "War within the Draconis Combine - Marduk"
  57. FedCom Civil War, pp. 70-71, "Wave One: Draconis Combine - Marduk"
  58. Field Manual: Updates, p. 106
  59. Objectives: Draconis Combine, p. 36, "Victory Industries"
  60. Handbook: House Kurita, p. 172, "Snapping Dragon"
  61. Field Manual: SLDF, p. 252, "SLDF - Federated Suns Military Command Map"
  62. Field Report 2765: Federated Suns, p. 10, "Avalon Hussars - Regimental Status"
  63. Field Report 2765: Federated Suns, p. 17, "Regimental Status"
  64. First Succession War (Source Book), p. 134, "First Succession War Deployment Table - AFFS"
  65. First Succession War (Source Book), p. 135, "First Succession War Deployment Table - AFFS"
  66. First Succession War (Source Book), p. 137, "First Succession War Deployment Table - DCMS"
  67. NAIS The Fourth Succession War Military Atlas Volume 1, p. 80, "Other Actions"
  68. Historical: War of 3039, p. 138 "Deployment Table"
  69. 20 Year Update, p. 42, "Draconis Combine Deployment Table"
  70. Objective Raids, p. 27, "Draconis Combine Deployment Table"
  71. Field Manual: Draconis Combine, p. 134, "Draconis Combine Deployment Table"
  72. Field Manual: 3145, p. 64, "Draconis Combine Mustered Soldiery Deployment Table - 3145"
  73. Handbook: House Kurita, p. 122, "Victory Industries (Formerly Norse BattleMech Works)"

Bibliography