267th Battle (Clan Smoke Jaguar)

Unit Insignia of the 267th Battle Cluster
267th Jaguar Battle Cluster
Disbanded 3060 (destroyed)
Nickname The Devil's Mist
Affiliation Clan Smoke Jaguar
Parent Command Beta Galaxy


Overview[edit]

The 267th Battle Cluster was a front-line combat unit of Clan Smoke Jaguar.

History[edit]

Operation Revival[edit]

The Cluster was frustrated during Operation REVIVAL, consistently outbid for attacks on the worlds of the Draconis Combine by more senior Clusters. It wasn't until the combined Smoke Jaguar/Nova Cat assault on Luthien in 3052 that the 267th was given an opportunity for combat.[1]

Wave Five[edit]

Luthien
Actual battle records of the 267th Battle Cluster are sparse for the fighting on Luthien in January 3052. However, it is reported that sixty percent of the Cluster's OmniMechs and Elemental Points made it back to the Jaguars' waiting DropShips, and that they barely had time to rebuild their losses before being deployed to Tukayyid.[1]

Tukayyid[edit]

The unit fought on Tukayyid against the 367th Division (Spoken Ideas) in the Racice Delta as part of Beta Galaxy.[2] After their initial landing, their advance quickly became bogged down, the swamps and marsh hampering their movement. The Cluster came under repeated ambushes while the artillery barrage was almost constant for three days. As the days wore on, their casualties increased.[1] After the death of Sarah Weaver, their command post was overrun and the Cluster was ordered to retreat in an attempt to save as many warriors as possible;[3][4] a considerable number of technicians were lost, killed in the fighting.[5]

Post-Tukayyid[edit]

The Cluster was rebuilt after its losses on Tukayyid; interestingly, during this period several of its officers were reassigned to other units.[6] They were deployed to garrison the main base on Teniente by January 3054;[7] from here they were sent out on occasional raiding Trials against the Draconis Combine. This base was a short-lived outpost on an otherwise Clan Nova Cat–held world.

Their most visible action was a Trial of Possession declared for a Nova Cat Overlord-C-class DropShip in 3056. In that action, Trinary Assault fought with two Nova Binaries of the 100th Striker Cluster. The Warhawks and Dire Wolfs of the Assault Trinary shrugged off the BattleMechs and systematically annihilated every Elemental sent against them before the remainder fled outside the Circle of Equals.[8]

Operation Bulldog[edit]

By 3059, the Cluster was deployed to Outer Volta.[9] In June of the same year, it was joined by the First Guards and Galaxy Commander Ward's Swath Keshik. Both units had retreated from Avon after Inner Sphere forces had attacked.[10]

Counterattack[edit]

Meinacos
The 267th Battle Cluster dropped onto Meinacos in an effort to disrupt the SLDF advance in July 3059. The Jaguar unit faced the Eighth Dieron Regulars, the St. Ives Cheveau-Légers, the First Canopian Cuirassiers, and the Eleventh Alshain Avengers. Though the Clan unit fought well, they couldn't hold when the Eighth Dieron drove into the Cluster's flank in Tierra del Noche, while the Eleventh Alshain distracted them, luring away portions of their command, and the Canopian Cuirassiers threatened to cut off the Clan unit's retreat. Diane Perez pulled her forces back to the mountains to regroup. Receiving the retreat order, they boarded their DropShips and left without another major engagement.[11]

Wave Three[edit]

Outer Volta
An Omega Trinary from the Cluster comprising mostly Star League and Clan second-line 'Mechs was attached to Beta Galaxy Command on Outer Volta. The Clan forces had taken up a defensive position in the capital city when the Eighth Sword of Light, Thirty-ninth Division (ComStar) and Izanagi Warriors landed in August 3059.[12] Ordered by Lincoln Osis to delay the Inner Sphere troops for as long as possible, the Clan force fought a series of running battles over four days before being pushed out of the city to the Oshira foothills. Harried by flank attacks from the Com Guards and rear attacks from the Sword of Light, the remnant of Beta Galaxy found themselves surrounded and destroyed.[13]

Huntress[edit]

Elements of the 267th Battle Cluster formed part of Hang Mehta's forces on Huntress in 3060,[14] where they were finally wiped out.[15]

Officers[edit]

Rank Name Command
Commanding Officers of the 267th Battle Cluster
Star Colonel Diane Perez 3059[16][17]

Other Officers[edit]

Tactics[edit]

The Cluster was expert at combined arms tactics.

Composition History[edit]

3052[edit]

(partial)

  • Bravo Striker Binary (2 OmniMech Stars)

3057–3059[edit]

  • Trinary Command
  • Trinary Assault - (15 OmniMechs)
  • First Trinary Battle - (15 OmniMechs)
  • Binary Elemental - (50 Elementals)
  • Second Trinary Battle - (15 OmniMechs)
  • Supernova Battle - (15 OmniMechs, 75 Elementals)[16]

Notes[edit]

The Cluster is not listed in the Smoke Jaguar order of battle in the Luthien scenario pack.

References[edit]

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 Era Report: 3062, p. 61
  2. Tukayyid, p. 33
  3. Exodus Road, p. 18
  4. Invading Clans, pp. 61–62
  5. Exodus Road, pp. 34, 45
  6. Exodus Road, p. 36
  7. Objective Raids, p. 34
  8. Era Report: 3062, pp. 61–62
  9. The Dragon Roars, p. 12
  10. The Dragon Roar, p. 24
  11. 11.0 11.1 11.2 The Dragon Roars, pp. 41–43
  12. The Dragon Roar, p. 44
  13. The Dragon Roars, pp. 57–59
  14. Shadows of War, p. 52
  15. Era Report: 3062, p. 62
  16. 16.0 16.1 16.2 Invading Clans, p. 70
  17. The Dragon Roars, p. 43
  18. Exodus Road, p. 17

Bibliography[edit]