8th Arcturan Guards

Insignia of the Arcturan Guards Brigade
Eighth Arcturan Guards
Formed ca. 2341[1]
Disbanded 3050[2]
Nickname The Calliope Regiment[1]
The Hell or High Water Boys[3]
Affiliation Lyran Commonwealth
Parent Command Arcturan Guards


History[edit]

Formation[edit]

The Arcturan Guards brigade was originally founded as the Capitol Guards when the Lyran Commonwealth was founded as a nation in 2341, and the brigade changed its name to the Arcturan Guards sixty years later when the government of the Commonwealth was relocated from Arcturus to Tharkad. The Eighth Arcturan Guards was one of the nine founding units of the Guards, and like the other Guards units was named for a muse from ancient mythology - in this case, Calliope.[1]

Star League Era[edit]

Like the other regiments of the Arcturan Guard, the Eighth struggled with boredom and ennui during the closing years of the Star League era; the Star League Defense Force acted as an effective deterrent in the main, making large-scale military deployments for the Eighth a rarity, and leaving the regiment to occupy itself with training exercises and garrison duty.[1]

By 2765 the Eighth had been stationed on the world of Stanzach for several years, attempting to deal with a local insurrection and the terrorism that went hand-in-hand with it. In 2765 the conflict had escalated, with strikes by employees and lock-outs by employers pulling the populace into an actual class war.[1]

First Succession War[edit]

During the First Succession War the Eighth was involved in a campaign on the planet Loric which resulted in the regiment having to walk through forest fires and ford deep rivers not once, but twice; these actions earned the Eighth the nickname "The Hell or High Water Boys"[3]

Clan Invasion[edit]

Here[edit]

Upgraded at some point to a full Regimental Combat Team, the Eighth found itself fighting alongside the Here Militia against the Turkina Keshik and the Third Falcon Talon from Clan Jade Falcon in March 3050. The Eighth and the Militia fought pitched battles at Connor Pass and Cameron City in Cameron Valley. Cameron City had been abandoned, but the greater numbers of the Eighth were outmatched by the greater experience of the Jade Falcon forces. The Jade Falcons fought through Cameron City street by street, rolling the Eighth and the Militia back. When the Jade Falcons pierced the Eighth's defensive line at Here's capital city. Twenty hours into the battle for control of Here, they killed Hauptmann General Frederic Anderson and caused the Eighth to collapse. While the surviving militia forces retreated into the catacombs on the planet with a view to creating an armed resistance force, the remaining elements of the Eighth retreated to the planet Somerset.[4]

Somerset[edit]

Two months after the retreat from Here, the Eighth faced forces from Clan Jade Falcon again when the Ninety-fourth Striker Cluster from Peregrine Galaxy invaded. The Ninety-fourth struck first at Somerset Space Port, engaging the Somerset Academy Training Battalion and swiftly overwhelming the courageous but outmatched cadets. The Eighth and the other major unit on the planet, the Second New Ivaarsen Chasseurs, met the Ninety-fourth in battle near a town named Hollyfield, where they fought bravely for twelve straight hours before both commands were effectively destroyed by the Jade Falcons.[2] With the destruction of the Eighth the last of the founding regiments of the Arcturan Guards had been destroyed.[5]

Officers[edit]

Rank Name Command
Commanding Officers of the 8th Arcturan Guards
Hauptmann General Frederic Anderson prior to Operation REVIVAL - March 3050.[4]

Tactics[edit]

Unknown.

Composition History[edit]

2765[edit]

  • Eighth Arcturan Guards (Regiment/Veteran/Reliable)[6]
- At this point in time the Eighth was stationed on Stanzach.[6]

2786–2821[edit]

8th Arcturan Guards (Regiment/Veteran/Reliable)[7]

Note: At this point in time the medium-weight unit was stationed on Stanzach. In 2821 the command was reduced to 40' percent of its strength and was deployed on Weingarten.[7]

2830[edit]

8th Arcturan Guards (Regiment/Elite/Fanatical)[8]

Note: At this point in time the medium-weight unit was stationed on Weingarten with an operational readiness of 86 percent.[8] The unit was destroyed during the war.[8]

3025[edit]

Eighth Arcturan Guards (Regiment/Green/Reliable)[5]

Note: At this point in time the unit was stationed on Here.[5]

3040[edit]

Eighth Arcturan Guards (Regiment/Green/Reliable)[9]

Note: At this point in time the command was stationed on Here.[9]

3050[edit]

8th Arcturan Guards RCT (Regiment/Green/Reliable)[10]

  • CO: Hauptmann General Frederic Anderson[10]
Note: At this point in time the command was stationed on Here.[10]

Notes[edit]

  • According to Greek mythology, Calliope was the Muse of epic poetry.

References[edit]

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 Field Report 2765: LCAF, pp. 8–9: "Arcturan Guards"
  2. 2.0 2.1 Clan Jade Falcon, p. 39: "Somerset"
  3. 3.0 3.1 House Steiner (The Lyran Commonwealth), p. 71: "Regimental Nicknames (continued)"
  4. 4.0 4.1 Clan Jade Falcon, p. 36: "Here"
  5. 5.0 5.1 5.2 House Steiner (The Lyran Commonwealth), p. 120: "Unit Deployment Table"
  6. 6.0 6.1 Field Report 2765: LCAF, p. 9: "Regimental Status"
  7. 7.0 7.1 First Succession War, p. 139
  8. 8.0 8.1 8.2 Second Succession War, p. 99
  9. 9.0 9.1 Historical: War of 3039, p. 137
  10. 10.0 10.1 10.2 20 Year Update, p. 25

Bibliography[edit]