Arcturan Guards
The Arcturan Guards were the first Lyran national unit mustered to defend the nascent Lyran Commonwealth.
Contents
History
Founding
Known originally by the simple name of the Capitol Guards, the Arcturan Guards were the first federal troops of the newly-formed Lyran Commonwealth when originally founded[1] in 2341 as an infantry and armour force.[2] Initially nine regiments strong when founded, each regiment was named for a muse from ancient mythology; this naming convention continued when the first expansion regiments were subsequently founded.[1]
When the Lyran government moved from Arcturus to Tharkad in 2407 the Capitol Guards changed names, becoming the Arcturan Guards.[1]
Star League Era
The Arcturan Guards brigade increased in size after its founding, and like other brigades in the Lyran Commonwealth Armed Forces the Guards expanded again after the repeal of the Star League Council Edict of 2650, although the convention of naming new regiments after muses didn't continue. The Guards were well-supported during the Star League era, in part because of how closely tied the brigade was to the economic might of the Tamar Pact. The main problems the Guards had to deal with as the Amaris Civil War approached were boredom and ennui; the Guards still had political intrigues and the occasional raid to deal with, but the Star League Defense Force acted as enough of a deterrent that there were few large-scale military deployments or operations for the Guard to engage in, limiting much of the brigade's activities to training or garrison duty.[1]
Succession Wars
For centuries an agreement was in place that ensured that the Guards recruited at least a quarter of its personnel from Arcturus, even as it became a ghost world. An order issued by Archon Katherine Steiner attempted to strip away this provision from the Guards prior to the FedCom Civil War, but was met with entrenched opposition from the soldiers and officers of the Guards - including those not born on Arcturus - and although the Archon was eventually forced to acquiesce it cost the Guards their commanding officer, who was promoted out of the brigade into a general staff post and replaced with one of the Archon's supporters.[2]
Dark Age
Several of the Arcturan Guards regiments were heavily damaged or destroyed by Clan Jade Falcon forces when the Falcons assaulted the Commonwealth in 3142.[3]
Units of the Arcturan Guards
- First Arcturan Guards
- Second Arcturan Guards
- Third Arcturan Guards
- Fourth Arcturan Guards
- Fifth Arcturan Guards
- Eighth Arcturan Guards - (Destroyed during Operation Revival)
- Ninth Arcturan Guards - (Destroyed on Hesperus II between the 6th, 7th and 8th battles)
- Tenth Arcturan Guards
- Eleventh Arcturan Guards - (Destroyed during the Blakist attack on Tharkad)[4][5]
- Thirteenth Arcturan Guards
- Fourteenth Arcturan Guards
- Fifteenth Arcturan Guards
- Sixteenth Arcturan Guards
- Seventeenth Arcturan Guards
- Eighteenth Arcturan Guards
- Nineteenth Arcturan Guards - (Regimental command staff killed in Jihad; survivors folded into Stone's Revenants).[5]
- Twentieth Arcturan Guards - (Destroyed by Blakist forces on Gabriel; survivors rolled into 23rd Arcturan)[5]
- Twenty-first Arcturan Guards
- Twenty-second Arcturan Guards
- Twenty-third Arcturan Guards
- Twenty-fourth Arcturan Guards - (Destroyed during Operation Revival)
- Twenty-fifth Arcturan Guards - (Destroyed by Clan Jade Falcon in 3069; Rebuilt and stopped Falcon's Delta Galaxy in 3071.[5]
- Twenty-sixth Arcturan Guards
Color Scheme and Unit Insignia
The parade color for the unit is flat white.[2]
Thunder Hawk in Arcturan Guards colors
Griffin in Arcturan Guards colors
Zeus in Arcturan Guards colors
- Arcturan Guards Insignia.png
Insignia of the Arcturan Guards Brigade
- Arturanguards15th.png
15th Arcturan Guards Insignia
- Arturanguards17th.png
17th Arcturan Guards Insignia
- Arturanguards20th.png
20th Arcturan Guards Insignia
- Arturanguards23rd.png
23rd Arcturan Guards Insignia
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Field Report: Lyran Commonwealth 2765, p. 8, "Arcturan Guards"
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Field Manual: Lyran Alliance, p. 54, "Arcturan Guards: For The Oath
- ↑ Field Manual: 3145, p. 125
- ↑ Jihad Turning Points: Tharkad, p. 8, "Sifting Though the Rubble" - Scenario note the destruction of the 11th Arcturan Guards.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 Field Report: LAAF, p. 10