Andurien Heavy Guard

Andurien Heavy Guard.jpg
Andurien Heavy Guard
Formed 2651[1]
Disbanded 2789[2]
Nickname The Rock of Gibraltar[1]
Affiliation Capellan Confederation
Parent Command Capellan Hussars


History[edit]

Formation[edit]

As a part of the Capellan Hussars brigade, the Andurien Heavy Guard symbolically represented the people of the Andurien Commonality within the Capellan Confederation. The Guard formed in part due to the Reunification War, although they didn't participate in the campaign; when the Star League formed at the end of the Age of War, each Great House donated troops to join in the formation of the Star League Defense Force. As the weakest and least technologically advanced of the Great Houses at the time, the Confederation jumped at the chance to replace form new regiments equipped with more advanced technology, and donated the larger part of their armed forces to the SLDF. Refusing to commit further units to the war efforts in the Periphery, the Confederation instead began mustering new units, a process that would continue until shortly after the Star League Council Edict of 2650 was issued; the Andurien Heavy Guard was one of the last of these new units to muster.[1]

Star League Era[edit]

The legacy of the three Andurien Wars and the importance with which the planet - an important industrial world - could be raided by the Free Worlds League necessitated the dedication of a permanent garrison to defending the world, and the Andurien Heavy Guard formed a part of that garrison. The sedentary nature of this posting denied the Andurien Heavy Guard the opportunity to become the premier unit they might have been; instead, from 2710 onwards the Heavy Guard was largely stuck doing little more than holding parades and joining in with Confederation-wide wargames, and the communication between the various companies of the Heavy Guard was so poor that the regiment usually saw it placed towards the bottom of the game rankings.[1]

First Succession War[edit]

In May 2789 Captain-General Kenyon Marik launched a large-scale invasion of the Andurien Commonality of the Capellan Confederation, beginning with dropping the Fourth and Eleventh Atrean Dragoons and four regiments of mercenaries onto Andurien, after a brief but bloody naval battle above the planet. Faced with six regiments supported by heavy aerospace forces and the punishing artillery of Baldwin's Cobras Heavy Brigade, the defending forces - the Andurien Heavy Guard, and the Twelfth Andurien Hussars, which was an untested unit at the time - crumbled; the campaign was brief and one-sided. A week after the landings, Andurien was under the control of the Free Worlds League again.[2]

Officers[edit]

Rank Name Command
Commanding Officers of the Andurien Heavy Guard

Tactics[edit]

The Andurien Heavy Guard shied away from using heavier BattleMechs due to Andurien's high gravity, and preferred to engage an opponent at range.[3]

Composition History[edit]

2765[edit]

Andurien Heavy Guard (Regiment/Veteran/Reliable)[3]

Note: At this point in time the regiment was based on Andurien.[3]

2786[edit]

Andurien Heavy Guard (Regiment/Veteran/Reliable)[4]

- At this point in time the Guard was a medium-weight regiment operating at full strength and was based on Andurien alongside the Seventh and Twelfth Andurien Hussars. The unit was destroyed during the war.[4]

Game Rules[edit]

2750[edit]

  • As they were a new unit and not used to working together, any time the Andurien Heavy Guards deployed more than eight units on the field they receive a -1 initiative modifier.[5]

First Succession War[edit]

  • Between 2786 and 2807, the composition of randomly-generated lances from the Andurien Heavy Guard are determined using a single roll on the Random Unit Assignment Tables per lance, with all of the lance 'Mechs being the resulting type. Between 2808 and 2819, the lance composition is determined using two rolls on the Random Unit Assignment Tables per lance, and from 2820 lance composition is determined using one roll per 'Mech per lance.[6]
  • When generating Andurien Heavy Guard forces using Random Unit Assignment Tables during the First Succession War, the Andurien Heavy Guard receives a +4 modifier to each roll on the appropriate table.[7]

References[edit]

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Era Report: 2750, p. 40: "Andurien Heavy Guard"
  2. 2.0 2.1 First Succession War, p. 60: "Losing Ground"
  3. 3.0 3.1 3.2 Field Report 2765: CCAF, p. 7
  4. 4.0 4.1 First Succession War, p. 135: "Capellan Confederation Armed Forces (CCAF)"
  5. Era Report: 2750, p. 140: "BattleTech Rules - Capellan Confederation"
  6. First Succession War, p. 147: "Force Compositions"
  7. First Succession War, p. 147: "RAT Die Roll Modifiers by Combat Command Table"

Bibliography[edit]