Editing Langendorf Lancers

{{infoBoxMilitaryCommand
| image          = [[Image:Langendorf Lancers logo.svg|150px|Langendorf Lancers]]
| Designation    = Langendorf Lancers
| formed         = 
| Disbanded      = 
| Previous Designation = 
| Nickname       = 
| Affiliation    = Mercenary
| Parent Command = Independent 
| Sub-Command    = 
}}

The '''Langendorf Lancers''', also known as '''Langendorf's Lancers''', was a [[mercenary unit]] primarily employed by the [[Free Worlds League]].

==History==
===Origins===
Suffering increasing damage from [[Capellan Confederation]] raiders during the [[First Succession War]], wealthy merchant princes on [[Calloway VI]] formed their own private army in an attempt to defend against them, however, as the [[Succession Wars (History)|Succession Wars]] continued without end, the merchant cartels found their often greedy and headstrong troops increasingly difficult to deal with. By the [[Third Succession War]] with disagreements mounting, the cartels offered their forces to the [[LCCC]] just to get rid of them. With his requests for troops increasingly stymied by the League's Parliament refusal to support his grand "[[Operation Killing Stroke]]", [[Captain-General of the Free Worlds League|Captain-General]] [[Thaddeus Marik (30th c.)|Thaddeus Marik]] eagerly accepted the new mercenaries. Renaming themselves the Langendorf Lancers, after General Mortimer Langendorf the retired officer hired by Calloway VI’s merchants to form the force, the force became a conventional mercenary command, suffering heavy losses during the truncated and ultimately unsuccessful Killing Stroke in [[2950]]. <ref name=HM-43>''House Marik'', p. 43 "Operation Killing Stroke"</ref> <ref name=HM-106>''House Marik'', p. 106 "Mercenary Units - Langendorf Lancers"</ref><ref name=CMMp51>''Combat Manual: Mercenaries'', p. 51</ref>

The regular ranked Lancers remained stationed on the League world of [[Colfax]] from at least [[3025]] to [[3054]].  <ref name=HM-109>''House Marik'', p. 109 "'Mech Unit Delopment Table"</ref> <ref name=20YU>''20-Year Update'', p. 57 "Free Worlds League Military - Mercenaries"</ref><ref name=OR>''Objective Raids'', p. 39 "Free Worlds League Military - Mercenaries"</ref> The only notable event in this period was [[Janos Marik]]'s daughter [[Kristen Marik]], under the assumed identity of Kristen Markus, joining the Lancers. Wanting to make her own way rather than trade on her name, Kristen started as a Tech before capturing a [[Lyran]] ''[[Hunchback]]''. <ref name=HM-141>''House Marik'', p. 141 "Kristen Marik"</ref> After Janos' death provided Kristen with a large inheritance, a number of Lancers accompanied her to form her own mercenary unit, [[Kristen's Krushers]]. <ref name=FMM>''Field Manual: Mercenaries'', p. 71 "Kristen's Krushers"</ref>

In the 3050s they were sent to raid a Lyran supply depot on [[Dixie]] and pick up some "to be determined" passengers. On Dixie they faced, and were defeated by, the [[Filthy Lucre]] mercenary unit. As the Lancers were returning to their JumpShip they learned that the Lucre were the passengers they were supposed to escort. They escorted the Lucre to the League but things were tense through the whole trip. These tensions were made worse when the Lucre refused to return the salvage they'd gained from the Lancers. This resulted in a rivalry that prompted the [[Captain-General of the Free Worlds League|Captain-General]] to post the Lancers to the League-Confederation border.<ref name=CMMp51/>

Enraged by the refusal, and decided to vent the frustration, colonel Millsey carried out an unauthorized raid on [[Bolan]] in January [[3050]]. The raid was a great success, but also could enrage the Filthy Lucre, as that world had been a longtime homeworlds of the Lucre, but the provocation failed to force the Lucre to respond, which increased even more Colonel Millsey's rage at the other rival command.<ref>''Combat manual: Mercenaries'', p. 51 </ref>

===Operation Guerrero===
The Lancers' long period of continuous employment with the League ended in [[3058]] when the increasingly anti-mercenary Captain-General [[Thomas Marik]] transferred their contract to [[Chancellor]] [[Sun-Tzu Liao]] to bolster the Confederation's efforts in the so-called [[Chaos March]]. <ref name=FWLFM>''Field Manual: Free Worlds League'', p. 16 "Types of Units - Mercenary Units"</ref> Sent to [[Epsilon Indi]] to support of pro-Capellan factions trying to take control of the planetary government, <ref name=CM>''Chaos March'', p. 36 "Epsilon Indi"</ref> the Lancers were stymied when Duke Benson Abraham hired the [[Tooth of Ymir]] to oppose them. Hurt by lack of air cover during their advance into the Chaos March, the Lancers combated this by hiring the mercenary fighter squadron the Night Things to become part of the unit. <ref name=FMMR>''Field Manual: Mercenaries Revised'', p. 85 "Force Briefs Updates - Langendorf Lancers"</ref> 

===Jihad===
Relatively evenly matched, the uneasy stalemate shattered in [[3067]] during the opening stages of the [[Jihad]] when the increasing distrust of mercenaries and [[Word of Blake]] misdirection prompted the [[2nd Division (ComStar)|Second]] [[Com Guards|Com Guard Division]] to inexplicably attack the Tooth of Ymir, the savaged mercenaries withdrawing to [[Arc-Royal]] to rebuild. The Lancers never got a chance to significantly aid the House Liao forces in claiming Epsilon Indi, when only a few months later Word of Blake forces assaulted the Second Division. Ignoring the dying Second Division's pleas for aid, the Lancers desperately staged an assault on the spaceport, boarded two freighters and forced the crews to fly them offworld. <ref name=DoJ>''Dawn of the Jiahd'', p. 85 "Enemy Brothers - Slaughter!"</ref> <ref name=MSU>''Mercenary Supplemental Update'', p. 82 "Force Briefs Updates - Langendorf Lancers"</ref> 

The Lancers were censured by the [[MRBC]] for their seizure of the [[DropShip]]s after arriving on [[Galatea]], but the Commission eventually conceded that the circumstances had been extraordinary, only inflicting the penalty for defaulting on their contract with the Capellan Confederation. With the Lancers desperate for a new contract and noted for their long history of employment with the League, with elements of the [[Lyran Alliance]] launching [[Operation ÜBERSCHATTEN]], [[Tamarind]] Marshall [[Jeremy Brett]] quickly hired them for his counterattack. Part the forces sent to liberate [[Gallatin]], <ref name=TBD>''Jihad Secrets: The Blake Documents'', p. 21 "Operation: ÜBERSCHATTEN/BROKEN FIST - stating FMU in error in mentioning Preston"</ref> the Lancers ran into trouble when their inexperienced [[aerospace fighter]] wing broke ranks from the rest of the League task force to stop Lyran fighters from attacking the Lancers' DropShips. While successful in turning them back, the wing's lighter ''[[Lightning (Aerospace Fighter class)|Lightnings]]'' and ''[[Stingray]]''s paid the price for their mistake, suffering extremely heavy losses against Lyrans' heavier ''[[Chippewa]]''s and ''[[Eisensturm]]''s. <ref name=MSU/> 

Compared to the desperate battle during the approach, the fighting on the ground was fairly routine, with the Lancers assigned to help encircle and isolate the [[1st Skye Jaegers]] in Basingstoke City. Maintaining steady progress at first, stiff resistance resulted in the Lancers closing the gap a day behind schedule, allowing most of the Jaegers to escape and delaying the liberation of Gallatin by weeks. The Lancers moved on with the rest of the League task force to drive the Lyrans from [[Rexburg]], [[Pingree]] before arriving on [[Sheridan]] where the mercenaries’ supposedly secure landing zones came under intense artillery attack from the mercenary [[Thor's Hammers]] just as they were halfway through disembarking. While suffering heavy casualties, the Lancers were eventually victorious on Sheridan, and with the Lyran forces increasingly on the back foot, then proceeded to swiftly capture [[McAffe]]. The Lancers then received orders to remain in position, becoming the planet's assigned garrison force. <ref name=MSU/>

==Officers==
{| class="wikitable"
|- 
! scope="col" width="220" style="background: #dedede;" | Rank
! scope="col" width="220" style="background: #dedede;" | Name
! scope="col" width="220" style="background: #dedede;" | Command
|-
| colspan="4" style="background: #efefef;" | '''Commanding Officers of Langendorf Lancers'''
|-
| [[Colonel]]||[[Wayne Roland]]||[[3025]]<ref name=HM-106/>
|-
| Colonel||[[Gregory Millsey]]||[[3049]] - [[3071]]<ref name=20YU/> <ref name=OR/> <ref name=FMMR/> <ref name=MSU/> 
|-
| Colonel||[[Erma Gross]]||[[3145]] <ref name=FM:3145p182>''Field Manual: 3145'', p. 182, "Notable Mercenary Forces - Federated Suns"</ref>
|-
|}

==Tactics==
Unknown.

==Dragoon Ratings==
===3059 to 3067===
B+

===3071===
C

=== 3145 ===
'''Rating: A'''<ref name=FM:3145p182/>

==Composition History==
===2821===
'''Langendorf Lancers''' (Regiment/Green/Questionable)<ref name= FSSp138>''First Succession War'', p. 138</ref>
:Note: In [[2821]] the light-weight command was reduced to 63 percent of its strength and was deployed on [[Calloway VI]]. <ref name= FSSp138/>

=== 2830 ===
'''Langendorf Lancers''' (Regiment/Regular/Questionable) <ref name=2ndSSp98>''Second Succession War'', p. 98 </ref>
: Note: At this point in time the light-weight unit was stationed on [[Calloway VI]] with an operational readiness of 121 percent. <ref name=2ndSSp98/>
=== 2864 ===	
'''Langendorf Lancers''' (Regiment/Veteran/Reliable) <ref name=2ndSSp98/>
: Note: At this point in time the light-weight unit was stationed on [[Calloway VI]] with an operational readiness of 65 percent. <ref name=2ndSSp98/>

===3025===
'''Langendorf Lancers''' (Regiment/Regular/Questionable)<ref name=HM-FWLp109>''House Marik (The Free Worlds League)'', p.109</ref>
* CO: [[Major]] Wayne Roland
=== 3028 ===
'''Langendorf Lancers''' (Regiment/Regular/Questionable)<ref name =HBSp87/>
:Note: At this point in time the command was stationed on [[Colfax]].  <ref name =HBSp87>''Historical: Brush Wars'', p.87</ref>

===3050===
'''Langendorf Lancers ''' (Regiment/Regular/Reliable)<ref name=20YU57>''20 Year Update'', p. 57, "Free Worlds League Deployment Table"</ref>
:* CO: Colonel Gregory Millsey<ref name=20YU57/>
: Note:  At this point in time the unit was stationed on [[Colfax]].  <ref name=20YU57/>

===3059===
'''Langendorf Lancers ''' (Regiment/Regular/Reliable) <ref name= FMMercsp111/>
:* CO (CO: Colonel Gregory Millsey <ref name= FMMercsp111/>
: Note: At this point in time the unit was stationed on [[Epsilon Indi]]. <ref name = FMMercsp111 >'' Field Manual: Mercenaries'', p. 111</ref>

===3067===
'''Langendorf Lancers''' (1 [[Regiment]]/Regular/Reliable)
* CO: Colonel Gregory Millsey
* 1st [[Battalion]]/XO: [[Force Commander]] Yance Gascoine
* 2nd Battalion: Force Commander Eun-Mee Ahn
* 3rd Battalion: Force Commander George Wesley

'''Langendorf Attack Wing''' (1 Reinforced [[Wing]]/Green/Reliable)
* Wing Commander: Major Ally Birke

===3145===
'''Langendorf Lancers''' (Veteran/Reliable)<ref name=FM:3145p182/>
* CO: Colonel Erma Gross<ref name=FM:3145p182/>
:- As of 3145 the Lancers were under contract to the Federated Suns and stationed in the [[Quitacas]] system, operating at one hundred and ten percent of full strength for a standard regiment.<ref name=FM:3145p182/>

==Notes==
* The Lancers use a red and white color scheme applied like a knight’s quartered surcoat. The regiment’s insignia is a golden lance over a white L on a black square, all set on a blue field. <ref name=FMMR/>
* Born as a defensive formation, the Lancers continue to focus primarily on defense rather than attack, partly to reduce the damage suffered and partly to draw out the length of any combat pay. However this also manifests itself in a great reluctance to attack unless presented with an opportunity too good to pass up. <ref name=FMMR/>

* To ease their support requirements, the bulk of the Lancers 'Mechs are medium weight designs with only a few Heavy 'Mechs, though they do boast a number of [[OmniMech]]s and advanced Phoenix designs. The Lancers also favor energy weapons over missile and ballistic weaponry for the same reasons. <ref name=FMMR/>
* The Lancers rely completely upon their employers or third parties for transport, <ref name=FMMR/> part of the reason for their desperate measures to flee Epsilon Indi.
* Subunit "Bowman Banshees" among the defenders of [[Vakarel]] around [[3025]]; hint that Langendorf's Lancers might themselves be a subunit of the [[21st Centauri Lancers]] by then. {{Citation needed}}

==References==
<references />
* Blackthorne comics #5+#6

==Bibliography==
<div class="desktop-3-col">
* ''[[20 Year Update]]''
* ''[[Blake Ascending]]''
* ''[[Chaos March (sourcebook)|Chaos March]]''
* ''[[Combat Manual: Mercenaries]]''
* ''[[Dawn of the Jihad]]''
* ''[[Field Manual: 3145]]''
* ''[[Field Manual: Mercenaries]]''
* ''[[Field Manual: Mercenaries Revised]]''
* ''[[First Succession War (sourcebook)|First Succession War]]''	
* ''[[House Marik (The Free Worlds League)]]''
* ''[[Jihad Secrets: The Blake Documents]]''
* ''[[Mercenaries Supplemental Update]]''
* ''[[Objective Raids]]''
* ''[[Second Succession War (sourcebook)|Second Succession War]]''
</div>


[[Category:Mercenary Commands|Langendorf Lancers]]