Davion Brigade of Guards
The Davion Brigade of Guards are the descendants of the personal bodyguard that Lucien Davion created to defend the President of the Federated Suns. Over time the Brigade emerged into a modern military unit and was eventually integrated into the AFFS. Today, the Royal Brigade serves as the elite of the Davion military, and though its soldiers were once drawn solely from New Avalon, they now come from all over the realm and their loyalty to House Davion ensures the units' devotions to the Federated Suns as a whole.[1]
Contents
History
FedCom Civil War
The entire Brigade being loyal to Victor Steiner-Davion, the Davion Brigade were involved in every phase and every major operation of the FedCom Civil War. Because of this they took tremendous casualties, particularly during the final battle on New Avalon, but were critical in winning the war for the Allies. Immediately after the Civil War almost all of its units were removed from the active duty rolls, but the brigade's position as the peak of the AFFS ensured that all but Fourth and Fifth Guards were quickly rebuilt and restored to combat readiness by the time the Jihad broke out.[2]
Jihad
Of the Davion Guards units who survived the FedCom Civil War, two were completely destroyed by the Word of Blake during the Jihad while the rest of the units took heavy losses. The Davion Light Guards and Third Davion Guards were destroyed on New Avalon by Blakist forces. The First was damaged, but rebuilt quickly by drafting members of other units. The First then went on to participate in Operation SCOUR. The Second joined the First in facing the Word of Blake. After landing on Terra, more than 95% of the unit was destroyed by nuclear strikes fired by the defending Blakists. As of 3079 the Second remained on the rolls as an honor guard, but was little more than a company currently attached to the First Davion Guards.[3]
Republic era
Thanks to their elite position within the AFFS and the extreme sacrifice and dedication shown by them during the Jihad, the Davion Brigade was rebuilt in short order as full-sized RCTs rather than as smaller defensive LCTs sweeping across the Davion military. Even this composition varies from the pre-Jihad era, each RCT's BattleMech component reduced to a standard regiment but offset by a reinforced AeroSpace Fighter wings and a complete regiment of Battle Armor. The Brigade's units had ample opportunity to show off their new layout in the years directly following the fighting on Terra with two regiments taking part in Operation MATADOR with another helping to bolster the newly formed Periphery March's border regions.[4]
Dark Age
The Royal Brigade naturally contributed the highest number of units alongside the other cornerstone of the AFFS, the Crucis Lancers, to the AFFS task force on Palmyra. These units, the famed Heavy, 2nd and 3rd Davion Guards RCTs, were all destroyed when the DCMS sprang their ambush.
Officers
- As of 3023, the Commanding Officer was Field Marshal Ran Felsner.[5]
- The Davion Brigade of Guards was commanded by Marshal Bishop Sortek until he was killed in action on New Avalon in October of 3063.
- In the wake of Bishop Sortek's murder, the Assault Guards CO Field Marshal Stephan Cooper served as the Brigade's overall commander.[2]
- As of 3085 the Brigade was under the command of Field Marshal Dixon Zibler, giving up command of the Davion Assault Guards to focus purely on the brigade in 3080.[4]
Units of the Davion Brigade of Guards
The Davion Brigade of Guards are a large combined arms brigade consisting of almost sixty regiments.[1]
- Davion Assault Guards
- Davion Heavy Guards
- Davion Light Guards
- 1st Davion Guards
- 2nd Davion Guards
- 3rd Davion Guards
- 4th Davion Guards
- 5th Davion Guards
- 782nd Davion Guards Auxiliary[citation needed]
Color Scheme and Insignia
The Brigade of Guards use the Davion family colors for parades and ceremonial duties, royal blue on the left and right side, bright red in the front and back, and white spacing the blue and red panels.
- DavionGuards.jpg
Parade colors of the 1st Davion Guards
- Davionguardsassault.png
Davion Assault Guards
- Davionguardsheavy.png
Davion Heavy Guards
- Davionguardslight.png
Davion Light Guards
- Davionguards1.png
1st Davion Guards
- Davionguards2.png
2nd Davion Guards
- Davionguards3.png
3rd Davion Guards
- Davionguards4.png
4th Davion Guards
- Davionguards5.png
5th Davion Guards
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 House Davion (The Federated Suns), p. 139 (PDF Version)
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Field Manual: Updates, p. 129 "Federated Suns - Davion Brigade of Guards"
- ↑ Field Report: AFFS, p. 12
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Field Manual: 3085, p. 60 "Federated Suns - Davion Brigade of Guards"
- ↑ House Davion (The Federated Suns), p. 189 "Ran Felsner"