Greenburg's Godzillas

GreenburgsGodzillas.jpg
Greenburg's Godzillas
Affiliation Mercenary
Parent Command Independent

History[edit]

Formation[edit]

The origins of the Greenburg's Godzillas stem from Colonel Mordon Greenburg. Serving for ten years with the Twenty-third Marik Militia at the controls of his Black Knight, Greenburg left the Free Worlds League Military and made a name for himself as a combat correspondent for the Tharkad Broadcast Company during the final years of the Third Succession War, his coverage making him a household name across the Inner Sphere. In 3027 while doing research on Galatea, Greenburg struck up a friendship with Philippe Rodan, survivor of the ill-fated Brownlee's Barracudas mercenary unit, and ultimately came up with a plan. Greenburg approached his TBC producer with the concept of a documentary series covering the day-to-day life of the first year of a new mercenary force led by Rodan and funded in part by TBC, with the network enthusiastic about the project but stipulating that holovid star Greenburg lead the new command.[1][2]

Thus was born the Greenburg's Godzillas holovid series, with Greenburg treating the viewers across the Inner Sphere to an up-close view of the mercenary life, the back streets and hiring halls of Galatea, tense contract negotiations and best bars and clubs of the Mercenary's Star. While initially highly successful, as the ratings fell cagey TBC executives canned the show on the cusp of the Fourth Succession War. By this point Greenburg had established a firm relationship with the members of the "cast" and chose to remain at the head of his namesake unit and return to combat.[1][2]

Service with the Federated Suns[edit]

Accepting a contract with the Federated Suns to garrison the Draconis March world of Sterlington against pirate raiders emerging from Outworlds Alliance space, the Godzillas avoided all but the most cursory involvement with the Fourth Succession War.[3][4] The Greenburg Godzillas likewise saw no combat during the War of 3039, traveling from Sterlington to their selected jump-off point of Kesai in preparation to bolster the later waves of the FedCom invasion of the Draconis Combine, and returning to Sterlington after the Allied forces were ejected by the Draconis Combine Mustered Soldiery.[5]

The Godzillas luckily avoided the initial Clan Invasion thanks to unit CO Ivo Greenburg's - Mordon's son and successor - chance decision leave the Federated Commonwealth in favor of a garrison contract on Nockatunga in his native Free Worlds League in the early 3050s.[6][7] The Godzillas were among the mercenaries supplied by Captain-General Thomas Marik to aid Chancellor Sun-Tzu Liao during Operation Guerrero, pushing the 5th Syrtis Fusiliers off the Sarna March world of Bora before staging a deep raid against Acamar, where they decimated the Acamar Militia before pulling back to League space following the FedCom victories on Woodstock and Nanking. This allowed the unit to avoid the risk of isolation from its League employers and return to their station on Nockatunga.[1][8][9]

Earning some measure of notoriety beyond their holovid fame for their service during Guerrero, the Godzillas signed a contract with the Draconis Combine as it sought to bolster the Draconis Combine Mustered Soldiery in preparation for Operation BULLDOG. Ultimately the contract would not lead to bigger and better things. After Clan Smoke Jaguar were ejected from their Occupation Zone far faster than expected, the DCMS did not extend their contract, leaving the Godzillas stuck on the Combine world of Cebalrai without funds to pay for passage to Outreach.[1]

In 3069 they sent an agent to Arc-Royal and negotiated a three-year garrison contract for Yeguas. This provided them with enough funds to hire transportation out of the Combine. Later in 3069 they faced the 4th Falcon Strike Cluster on Yeguas. Instead of the raid that the Lyran Intelligence Corps was expecting, the Falcons made a full push to take the planet. At the same time the 75th Strike Cluster landed on the planet Morges and defeated the 20th Arcturan Guards. The Godzillas were in a large fortified compound when the 75th Strike Cluster landed to reinforce the Fourth Strike Cluster. The Godzillas couldn't defeat two Clusters, so they set up a series of holographic projectors and other special effects to keep the Falcon's attention, overwhelmed a single Trinary, and escaped the world in hidden DropShips.[10]

After a short period of rest/refit the mercs were then ordered to help the Tooth of Ymir on Esteros. The Godzillas disguised themselves as a frontline Steel Viper Cluster and forced the defending Jade Falcon forces to retreat from Málaga. The two merc commands were then moved to Zanderij to garrison the planet and act as a reserve force in case of further incursions.

The Jade Falcons would attack Zanderij again in late 3074 or very early 3075. This time, forces from Iota Galaxy landed on Zanderij, only to find themselves engaging the Godzillas, the Tooth of Ymir and the Thor's Hammers. The Thor's Hammers mercenary unit, commanded by Major Napoleon Hobart, had recently taken receipt of a battery of newly-manufactured Helepolis 'Mechs which had been organized into a battery of ArtilleryMechs commanded by Captain Gustav Colt. Colt was a veteran artilleryman from the 12th Star Guards, a multiregiment mercenary unit destroyed during the initial Clan invasion. Colt and the motley collection of 'Mechs armed with artillery weapons known as "Hobart's Funnies" proved hugely effective against the Jade Falcon forces, pinning Iota Galaxy down with a constant artillery barrage and preventing the Falcon forces from breaking out of their initial landing zone. The Jade Falcons attempted to remove Colt's forces by launching a head-hunting attack using Elementals, only to discover that the Hammers had predicted the attack and screened the Funnies extensively with conventional forces. The Elementals were wiped out by the Hammers, leaving the surviving elements of Iota Galaxy little option but to withdraw.[11]

Officers[edit]

Rank Name Command
Commanding Officers of Greenburg's Godzillas
Colonel Sarah Dosimion 3025 - 3050[12][13]
Colonel Mordon Greenburg [1]
Colonel Ivo Greenburg 3052 - 3067[1][14]

Tactics[edit]

The Godzillas are skilled MechWarriors in close formation operations and can maneuver as one.[citation needed]

Support[edit]

The techs can cover most of the technical maintenance requirements. The command depends on the support for transportation.[citation needed]

Dragoon Ratings[edit]

3067[edit]

Dragoon Rating: C

Composition History[edit]

3025[edit]

Greenburg's Godzillas (Regiment/Veteran/Reliable)[12]

  • CO: Colonel Sarah Dosimion
Note: At this point in time the unit was stationed on Sterlington.

3040[edit]

Greenburg's Godzillas (Regiment/Veteran/Reliable)[15]

Note: At this point in time the command was stationed on Sterlington.[15]

3050[edit]

Greenburg's Godzillas (Regiment/Veteran/Reliable)[13]

  • CO: Colonel Sarah Dosimion[13]
Note: At this point in time the command was stationed on Sterlington.[13]

3059[edit]

Greenburg’s Godzillas (Regiment/Veteran/Questionable)[14]

  • CO: Colonel Ivo Greenburg[14]
Note: At this point in time the unit was stationed on Braunton.[14]

3067[edit]

Greenburg’s Godzillas (1 Regiment/Veteran/Reliable)

  • CO/1st Battalion: Colonel Ivo Greenburg
  • XO/ 2nd Battalion: Major Simon Verhoeven
  • 3rd Battalion: Major Joss Ridley

- The regiment contains mainly medium/heavy 'Mechs with 50% upgrades. 12 Omni designs are also in their ranks.

Greenburg’s Ghidorahs (1 Wing/Veteran/Reliable)

  • Wing Commander: Major Philippe Rodan

- The pilots are experts in ground operations.

Notes[edit]

  • The unit logo of the Greenburg's Godzillas is a fearsome green lizard against a red disk. The Godzillas favor a dark green paint scheme, occasionally accented with lighter green scales and classic "shark teeth" nose art. While considered unprofessional by some, in a holdover from their holovid days a number of the Godzillas feature corporate sponsorship logos and other advertising on their units, the quantity and size of which are proportionate to the fame of the warrior.[1]

References[edit]

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 Field Manual: Mercenaries, Revised, p. 71
  2. 2.0 2.1 Technical Readout: 3039, p. 270: "Star League - BL-7-KNT Black Knight"
  3. House Davion (The Federated Suns), p. 134: "Unit Deployment Table"
  4. NAIS The Fourth Succession War Military Atlas Volume 1, p. 12: "Operation RAT"
  5. Historical: War of 3039, p. 141: "Deployment Table"
  6. 20 Year Update, p. 57: "Free Worlds League Deployment Table"
  7. Objective Raids, p. 39: "Free Worlds League Deployment Table"
  8. Field Manual: Free Worlds League, p. 16: "The Eagle's Talons - Types of Units - Mercenary Troops - Greenburg's Godzillas"
  9. Field Manual: Free Worlds League, p. 115: "Free Worlds League Military (Deployment as of 1 January 3059) - Mercenary Units - Greenburg's Godzillas"
  10. Mercenaries Supplemental Update, p. 60
  11. Technical Readout: 3075, p. 182: "HEP-2H Helepolis"
  12. 12.0 12.1 House Davion (The Federated Suns), p. 137
  13. 13.0 13.1 13.2 13.3 20 Year Update, p. 20
  14. 14.0 14.1 14.2 14.3 Field Manual: Mercenaries, p. 106
  15. 15.0 15.1 Historical: War of 3039, p. 141

Bibliography[edit]