1st Towne Protectorate Militia Division

WoB Protectorate Militia Logo All.png
First Towne Protectorate Militia Division
Disbanded 3076
Affiliation Word of Blake
Parent Command Word of Blake Protectorate Militia


The First Towne Protectorate Militia Division is one of the many militias raised by Word of Blake to defend the Word of Blake Protectorate. As of 3075, the unit was deployed in Towne along the Second Towne Protectorate Militia Division.[1]

History[edit]

During the Jihad the Word of Blake added Towne to the Word of Blake Protectorate and created two Protectorate Militia units to defend it.

As a part of Operation SCOUR, the allied coalition invasion of the Protectorate, Towne was raided for reconnaissance information by allied scouts on the 12th of February 3077. The scouts confirmed that not only were there more the two regiments of Protectorate Militia forces on Towne, but there was also a limited but functioning SDS network protecting the world, and that the Blakists were using a large DropShip facility on the planet to convert civilian vessels into Pocket WarShips.[2]

The information on the facilities constructed on Towne by the Word of Blake was obtained by Captain Ross McKinnon and the Fox's Teeth, who would return with Group I of the Federated Suns task force as a part of SCOUR in April 3077. The Word of Blake had heavily fortified their DropShip facility, located deep within a mountain range on the continent of Howell, and protected it with formidable defenses, including capital missile launchers. This became the site of the fiercest struggle during the campaign to liberate Towne, with the Blakists nearly defeating the combined forces of Group I - believed to consist of the Third Free Worlds Legionnaires, Fifth Crucis Lancers and Fifteenth Arcturan Guards.[3] The defenses proved to be almost as tough as one of the Castle Brian complexes created during the era of the Star League, and drove the coalition troops to desperate measures; Princess Regent Yvonne Steiner-Davion personally authorized the use of orbital bombardment to crack the fortifications, and the Fox-class WarShip FSS Indefatigable moved in response.[4]

As the Indefatigable moved towards Towne, it triggered another layer of defenses in the system that the various DropShips of Group I had failed to trigger; even as the Fox's Teeth were making a dangerous raid on the surface of the planet to disable the capital missile launchers there, hidden missile launchers within the system targeted the Indefatigable. Launch platforms disguised as ore processing stations within the Towne asteroid belt launched dozens of missiles, inflicting heavy damage on the Indefatigable and nearly stymied the liberation effort. As it was, the Indefatigable managed to make it to orbit and bombard the Blakists defenses, allowing Group I to take the planet. The campaign took four weeks from start to finish, and while the 15th Arcturan Guards were ready to deploy on their next operation on the 22nd of April, the other elements of Group I would continue to rebuild on Towne for some time.[4]

The SDS system in the asteroid field around Towne was subsequently determined to be a prototype of the Dragon's Breath Multiple Capital Missile Launch System equipped with conventional missiles, rather than the nuclear weapons later systems would deploy. The successful activation of the SDS network in the Towne system and the damage inflicted on the Indefatigable would turn out to be an unusually successful performance for the SDS system, with later systems inflicted less damage on average.[5]

The unit was shattered.

Officers[edit]

Rank Name Command
Commanding Officers of the 1st Towne Protectorate Militia Division

Tactics[edit]

Unknown.

Composition History[edit]

Protectorate Militia Divisions were equipped with enough DropShip capacity for transportation, but not JumpShips.[6]

Rules[edit]

As long as a Protectorate Militia force is fighting on its homeworld and is acting as the scenario's Defender, the Protectorate Militia force receives the Force the Initiative and Off-Map Movement special abilities. If deployed as the Attacker in a scenario, the Protectorate Militia force loses its Force the Initiative ability, but retains its Off-Map Movement capability.

If deployed on a world other than its homeworld (such as an Epsilon Eridani force being deployed on Genoa), the Protectorate Militia force not only loses all of its special abilities, but also suffers a –2 Initiative modifier.

Although Blakist-based, Protectorate Militia forces may use standard Inner Sphere force arrangements (Lances, Companies, and Battalions) rather than Word of Blake force arrangements.[7]

Reference[edit]

  1. Jihad Secrets: The Blake Documents, p. 103, "protectorate militia deployment"
  2. Jihad: Final Reckoning, p. 56, "The Jihad In Review"
  3. Jihad Hot Spots: Terra, p. 36, "Tragedy On Demeter"
  4. 4.0 4.1 Jihad Hot Spots: Terra, p. 37, "The Tale Of Towne"
  5. Jihad Hot Spots: Terra, p. 86-87, "Dragon's Breath Multiple Capital Launch System"
  6. Jihad Secrets: The Blake Documents, p. 103
  7. Jihad Secrets: The Blake Documents, p. 103, "Rules Annex"

Bibliography[edit]