30th Lyran Guards

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The 30th Lyran Guards were a BattleMech regiment in service to the Lyran Commonwealth.

History

Star League Era

During the Star League era the Thirtieth Lyran Guards was one of six regiments within the Third Lyran Guards Division, one of five Divisions of active regiments within the Lyran Guards brigade in the closing decades of the Star League's existence.[1]

Like the other regiments of the Guards during this era, the Thirtieth Lyran Guards lacked any particular political ties - either regional or familial - unlike regiments in other brigades; commonly assigned to garrison postings, the Thirtieth Lyran Guards and their sister regiments were postings of choice for those who wanted to work for the Commonwealth without either regional loyalties or particular ambitions. This led to the Thirtieth and her sister regiments being manned by soldiers who were professional, but without the close-knit ties found in more parochial regiments. The LCAF was intent on generating more camaraderie and esprit de corps among the 30th and the other Guards regiments, but with little success by 2765.[1]

As a part of the Third Division, the Thirtieth was considered a regiment for up-and-coming personnel and rising stars during the 2760s, a consequence of Leutnant General Kristy Kiirlund's tenure as commanding officer of the Third. The Thirtieth took part in the Division-level deployment of the entire 3th Division to the Circinus system in the mid-2760s to conduct Operation HOUND DOG, a determined effort to track down and destroy bandit elements and groups believed to be operating out of the otherwise-uninhabited Circinus system. Despite the Free Worlds League declining to commit any troops or observers to the Operation - the League military considering the Operation to be nothing more than a "Snipe hunt" - the mission was accompanied by a team of Star League Defense Force observers and was a success. The unit had taken up a garrison post on Skandia by 2765 and recovered completely from the few casualties taken during HOUND DOG.[1]

First Succession War

When the Second Lyran Guards were destroyed, several of their constituent elements were combined with the Thirtieth Lyran Guards. These elements gave the Thirtieth their name.[2]

During the First Battle of Hesperus II in 2787 the Thirtieth Guards were among the defenders against the Combine assault dubbed Operation Broken Blade[3] where they managed to protect the factories and force the invaders to retreat.

Third Succession War

The 30th Lyran Guards assaulted Sevren alongside Hansen's Roughriders and Winfield's Brigade in 3024. They faced several Dieron Regulars regiments, but by dividing the strike force into separate groups and defeating them in detail, the Thirtieth brought Sevren under Commonwealth control.[4] The Thirtieth then redeployed to garrison Icar.[5]

Fourth Succession War

New Caledonia was one of the worlds attacked in the opening wave of Operation GÖTTERDÄMMERUNG, the major Lyran Commonwealth offensive of the Fourth Succession War. Defending New Caledonia was the Second An Ting Legion, along with a large contingent of aerospace fighters. Despite the heavier than anticipated aerospace presence, the 10th Donegal Guards RCT and the 30th Lyran Guards RCT arrived in the New Caledonia system on the 22nd of August 3028, achieving total surprise over the defending forces. The Thirtieth dropped north of Redfev, the planetary capital city and major industrial center, while the Tenth dropped to the south of the city. The Second An Ting Legion managed to withdraw from New Caledonia, but the two Lyran RCTs inflicted enough damage on the Legion that more than a fifth of its equipment had been lost before the Legion escaped.[6]

Operation Guerrero

Stationed on New Home when the Liaoist guerrilla cells launched an open revolution in 3057, striking almost daily with bombings and killing of civilians. The unit also suffered from those attacks as they frequently hit the unit's personnel and dependents and so further demoralized the Guards' commanders, Marshal Vincent Tanner and his second in command Leutenant General Herbert Kingsley who barely managed to keep the government working. Days after declaring martial law and suspending the ineffectual planetary government, Marshal Tanner was assassinated by the Zhanzheng de Guang. Less than twenty-four hours later New Home heard of Katherine Steiner-Davion's self proclamation to Archon of the newly formed Lyran Alliance and her invitation to all Lyran Troops to return home.

As acting Commander General Kingsley eagerly accepted the invitation but most of the unit preferred to remain on New Home. The new recruits, natives of New Home, and the brutalities of the Zhanzheng de Guang made the unit more determined to free New Home those Liaoist guerrilla. En route to the Lyran Alliance the 30th mutinied. Led by Leftenant General Delores Whitman, Kingsley's second in command, the Guards returned to New Home but found that the Liaoist revolutionaries had taken control in their absence. Reinforced by BattleMechs and state-of-the-art weapons from the Free Worlds League, the newly christened New Home Regulars, presented the 30th Lyran Guards with a formidable opposition that led to a stalemate.

This lasted until Baron Shienzè ruler of New Home hired the mercenary unit Avanti's Angels. With their unusual combat doctrine, shaped by battle against the Clans, that offense was the key to victory and their specialization on hard attacks the Avanti's Angels managed to hit the New Home Regulars hard enough to shift the tide in favor of the Baron and the Lyran Guards in March 3058.

Both the Thirteenth and 30th Lyran Guards were recorded as having gone rogue in the Chaos March, and by 3062 the 30th Guards had either been destroyed or was no longer considered a part of the Lyran Guards.[7]

Officers

Rank Name Command
Commanding Officers of the 30th Lyran Guards
Colonel Edward Nichols 3025[5]
Marshal Vincent Tanner 3054[8]
Leutnant-General Herbert Kingsley 3058
Leutnant-General Delores Whitman 3058

Tactics

Unknown.

Composition History

2765

30th Lyran Guards (Regiment/Regular/Reliable)[1]

- At this point in time the Thirtieth was based on Skandia.[1]

2786 - 2821

30th Lyran Guards (Regiment/Regular/Reliable) [9]

Note: At this point in time the heavy-weight unit was stationed on Skandia. In 2821 the command was reduced to 45 percent of its strength and was deployed on Skandia. [9]

2830

30th Lyran Guards (Regiment/Regular/Reliable) [10]

Note: At this point in time the assault-weight unit was stationed on Skandia with an operational readiness of 73 percent. [10]

2864

30th Lyran Guards (Regiment/Regular/Reliable) [10]

Note: At this point in time the heavy-weight unit was stationed on Skandia with an operational readiness of 11 percent. [10]

3025

30th Lyran Guards (Regiment/Regular/Reliable)[5]

  • CO: Colonel Edward Nichols
Note: At this point in time the unit was stationed on Icar.

3040

30th Lyran Guards (Regiment/Regular/Reliable)[11]

Note: At this point in time the command was stationed on Icar. [11]

3050

30th Lyran Guards RCT (Regiment/Regular/Reliable) [12]

  • CO: Marshal Vincent Tanner [12]
Note: At this point in time the command was stationed on New Home. [12]

3054

30th lyran guards RCT (Regiment/Regular/Reliable) [8]

  • CO: Marshal Vincent Tanne r [8]
Note: At this point in time the command was stationed on New Home. [8]

Notes

  • The novel Double-Blind names the unit as 13th Lyran Guards but it is clear that this is just a mix up in numbers, as all other information fits to the New Home entry in the Chaos March (sourcebook).
  • The unit includes elements of the now defunct 2nd Lyran Guards, which defeated Kurita forces on Port Moseby by setting a huge fire in its tinder-dry forests. BattleMechs in this unit have a flame a flame design on their upper shoulder.[13]

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 Field Report 2765: LCAF, p. 13-14, "Lyran Guards"
  2. House Steiner (The Lyran Commonwealth), p. 59
  3. Broken Blade, p.1
  4. House Steiner (The Lyran Commonwealth), p. 83
  5. 5.0 5.1 5.2 House Steiner (The Lyran Commonwealth), p. 118 (pdf version), "Unit Deployment Table"
  6. NAIS The Fourth Succession War Military Atlas Volume 1, p. 50, "Other Early Action"
  7. Field Manual: Lyran Alliance, p. 74
  8. 8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 Objective Raids, p. 18
  9. 9.0 9.1 ’’ First Succession War’’, p. 139
  10. 10.0 10.1 10.2 10.3 ’’ Second Succession War’’, p. 99
  11. 11.0 11.1 Historical: War of 3039, p. 137
  12. 12.0 12.1 12.2 20 Year Update, p. 24
  13. House Steiner (The Lyran Commonwealth), p. 59

Bibliography