Asta Protectorate Militia
Sarna News
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| Asta Protectorate Militia Division | |
| Disbanded | 3076 |
| Affiliation | Word of Blake |
| Parent Command | Word of Blake Protectorate Militia |
The Asta Protectorate Militia Division is one of the many militias raised by Word of Blake to defend the Word of Blake Protectorate. The unit was deployed in Asta. As of 3075 it was the only unit raised from this planet.[1]
History[edit]
Prior to the Jihad, Asta was a primarily agricultural world with an economy based on exported textiles and food. Tourism was also a smaller part of the economy, with tourists and geologists arriving to examine the strange crystal rock formations in the desert canyons of the main continent, Balerdo. The Blakists attacked the world via orbital bombardment, destroying the small Draconis Combine military unit stationed there, and forcibly integrated it into the Word of Blake Protectorate[2] between the 19th and 21st of June 3068.[3] Having occupied Altair the Blakists then established several "reeducation" camps on the planet.[2]
When new intelligence in late 3076 reported the Ghost Bear Dominion's latest military forays would focus on Dieron, Protectorate officials augmented the planet's defenses. Then in early 3077 additional reinforcements in the form of five Protectorate Militias and two frontline divisions brought a level of military force previously unheard of in Dieron's history: a staggering twenty-two Level III formations and heavy orbital support. The exact WoB forces numbered Second Division, Third Division, Eighth Division, Fourteenth Division, Nineteenth Division, Twenty-third Division, and five Protectorate Militia (Liberty, Fletcher, Acamar, Asta, Milton) which were moved from their planets in the Protectorate as a surprise to the invasion forces.
The Protectorate Militias from Acamar, Asta, and Milton kept their infantry regiments in their home planets.[4]
After nearly a month of fighting through the tight confines of the mountain passes leading to Mount Shanyu, the bulk of the Eighth Dieron Regulars arrived at one of the two gates to Fortress Dieron. It took two days of constant assault for the Eighth to breach the mountainous wall. The DCMS troops then held the gate from a concentrated Blakist counterattack while Clan Ghost Bear's Alpha Galaxy rushed through the gap. But the Clan Caught in the open, the warriors of Alpha Galaxy became easy targets for constant artillery fire. In order to give more time to the Clan forces, the battered remains of the Eighth charged the oncoming Asta Protectorate Militia, giving Khan Aletha Kabrinski and her warriors time to overrun the lower artillery positions. With the destruction of their artillery nests and the arrival of the Second Dieron Regulars and Omega Galaxy, Blakist control of the Fortress's main gate fell apart.
By the end of the campaign nearly ninety percent of the Blakist occupying force had been wiped out, so this command was shattered as an effective unit.[5]
It was from a prison camp on Asta that the noted military officer Andrew Redburn was liberated on the 18th of March 3077. Redburn had been presumed dead since the attack on Tukayyid at the beginning of the Jihad, but was rescued alive by allied coalition forces led by Clan Ghost Bear, and promptly joined the general staff of the coalition leader, Devlin Stone.[6] The forces from the Draconis Combine front of Operation SCOUR that liberated Asta were led by Tai-shu Isoroku Kurita, and began by securing what was left of the planetary capital, Excaliba, in the face of stiff resistance that finally broke with the arrival of the Second Genyosha. The main Combine force then rolled up the remaining Blakist presence on the Balerdo continent while the Ghost Bear forces cleared the Moolai continent. The Combine forces benefited from an uprising in a Blakist reeducation camp near the port city of Logan which had spread through other camps a week or so before the coalition forces arrived. The uprisings, led by Andrew Redburn, weakened and distracted the Blakist forces, something the coalition forces were able to take advantage of, shortening the campaign for Asta by at least a week if not more.[7] The infantry elements of the Asta Protectorate Militia were shattered during the fight.
Officers[edit]
| Rank | Name | Command | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Commanding Officers of the Asta Protectorate Militia Division | |||
Tactics[edit]
Unknown.
Composition History[edit]
Protectorate Militia Divisions were equipped with enough DropShip capacity for transportation, but not JumpShips.[8]
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.[9]
Reference[edit]
- ↑ Jihad Secrets: The Blake Documents, p. 103: "Protectorate Militia Deployment"
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Dark Age: Republic Worlds (3130), p. 233: "Asta"
- ↑ Jihad: Final Reckoning, p. 45: "The Jihad in Review"
- ↑ Jihad Turning Points: Dieron, p. 8: "Protectorate Militia [Word of Blake] (March 3077)"
- ↑ Total Chaos, pp. 56–60: "Dieron"
- ↑ Jihad: Final Reckoning, p. 57: "The Jihad in Review"
- ↑ Jihad Hot Spots: Terra, p. 32: "Official Update 2"
- ↑ Jihad Secrets: The Blake Documents, p. 103
- ↑ Jihad Secrets: The Blake Documents, p. 103: "Rules Annex"