Editing 3rd Davion Guards

{{Update Needed|[[Tales of the Black Widow Company]]|[[Second Succession War (sourcebook)]]|[[Turning Points War of 3039: Vega]]}}

{{infoBoxMilitaryCommand
| image          = [[File:Davion Guards 3rd logo.png]]
| Designation    = Third Davion Guards RCT
| formed         =
| Disbanded      = [[3144]] (destroyed)<ref name=FM:3145p71>''Field Manual: 3145'', p. 71: "Debacle at Palmyra"</ref>
| Previous Designation =
| Nickname       = Don't Tread on Me
| Affiliation    = [[Federated Suns]]
| Parent Command = [[Davion Brigade of Guards]]
| Sub-Command    =
}}

The '''Third Davion Guards''' are a BattleMech military formation that served in Armed Forces of the [[Federated Suns]] and later in [[Federated Commonwealth]].

==History==
The homeworld of the Third Davion Guards was [[Kesai IV]].

===Third Succession War===
[[Coursadin]] (Remis III) was the site of a battle between forces from [[Wolf's Dragoons]], namely the [[Black Widow Company]], versus [[Federated Suns]] forces including the Third Davion Guards and [[Lindon's Company]]. A [[Black Widow Company]] attack against an ammo dump had been repulsed, and headhunter forces gunning for [[Natasha Kerensky]] specifically engaged her in the Battle for Coursadin, a hard-fought engagement that went for at least a week.<ref name=TBW/> Up to this time Lindon's Company was under the command of [[Owen Lindon]],<ref>According to the unit write-up for Lindon's Company in the rulebook for the [[BattleTech, 2nd Edition]] box set</ref> but shortly afterwards as of 3025 it was under the command of "acting captain" [[Sarah Lindon]],<ref>''House Davion (The Federated Suns)'', p. 135: 'Mech Unit Deployment Table, Bryceland PDZ</ref> suggesting Owen Lindon may have been killed or incapacitated in this battle.

[[Klathandu IV]] was the scene of battle between the [[Black Widow Company]] and McKendrick's Company from the Third Davion Guards.<ref name=TBWCp28-29/>

====Notes====
The battle seems to have taken place in early November [[3024]], where a detachment of [[Epsilon Regiment (Wolf's Dragoons)|Epsilon Regiment of Wolf's Dragoons]] was wrapping up operations on "Courasin",<ref name=WB>''Wolves on the Border'', ch. 18</ref> implicitly meant to be the same battle elsewhere noted to have taken place on or at "Coursadin (Remis III)",<ref name=TBW>''Tales of the Black Widow'', pp. 20–21: "Spider Trap"</ref><ref name=WD>''Wolf's Dragoons'', p. 32</ref> and returning to their base on [[Thestria]].

===Fourth Succession War===
The Third Davion Guards attacked [[Algol]] with the [[Seventy-first Light Horse Regiment]]. There they destroyed the first battalion of the [[First Ariana Fusiliers]], who were commanded by [[Tormano Liao]]. Though they tried to capture him, Tormano eluded the Davion Guards. The third battalion of the Ariana Fusiliers escaped offworld.<ref>''NAIS The Fourth Succession War Military Atlas Volume 1'', p. 18</ref>

In the second wave of attacks, the Third Davion Guards hit [[Ningpo]], splitting a battalion of [[McCrimmon's Light Cavalry]] away from [[Marion's Highlanders]]. The Light Cavalry unit was pushed into a series of foothills and destroyed. After two months of harassing attacks from the Highlanders, the Third Guards had isolated the Highlanders on a peninsula. Rather than destroy the Highlanders, the Third's commander offered them a truce. The Highlanders accepted. The next day, the commander received a message from the AFFS High Command ordering the Guards to spare the Highlanders; The Highlanders would be leaving the service of the [[Capellan Confederation]].<ref>''NAIS The Fourth Succession War Military Atlas Volume 1'', p. 32</ref> The Guards departed from Ningpo. (At the time the [[Strategios]] and [[Maskirovka]] assumed that the Third Guards simply destroyed the Highlanders completely.<ref>''Warrior: Riposte'', p. 269</ref>

Dropping onto [[Slocum]] a battalion of Third Guards heavy 'Mechs supported by a regiment of tanks destroyed the second battalion of [[McCrimmon's Light Cavalry]]. The Guards took no significant losses.<ref>''NAIS The Fourth Succession War Military Atlas Volume 1'', p. 33</ref>

The fourth wave of the invasion found the Third Guards on [[Azha]], where they defeated the Capellan militia units assigned to defend the world.<ref>''NAIS The Fourth Succession War Military Atlas Volume 1'', p. 86</ref>

===War of 3039===
During the [[War of 3039]] the Third Davion Guards and the [[Third Lyran Guards]] [[Battle of Vega (3039)|invaded]] the Combine planet of [[Vega]] alongside several mercenary units. The Guards regiments successfully drove the [[Fourteenth Legion of Vega]] off-world in the first wave.<ref>''Historical: War of 3039'', pp. 32–33</ref> In the second wave, however, the Fourteenth returned to Vega and was supported by the [[Second Legion of Vega]] and the [[Second Dieron Regulars]]. The Third Lyran Guards were unable to stop the DCMS units, and the Third Davion Guards performed a series of smaller spoiling attacks on the Combine forces to slow them down.<ref>''Historical: War of 3039'', p. 77</ref> The Third Davion Guards were then targeted by all the DCMS units, and after three days of constant attacks, the Guards were ordered to leave Vega.<ref>''Historical: War of 3039'', p. 78</ref>

===Clan Invasion===
At the start of [[3050]], the Guards were stationed on [[Hesperus II]].<ref name=20yup27>''20 Year Update'', p. 27</ref><ref name=objr19>''Objective Raids'', p. 19</ref> In [[3057]], suborned by [[Field Marshal]] [[Brandal Gareth]] and other senior officers involved with the [[Free Skye]] movement and looking to form their own state during the formation of the [[Lyran Alliance]], the Third Guards were used to try and take control of Hesperus II and took heavy damage from the defending [[Gray Death Legion]] in what became known as the Fourteenth Battle of [[Hesperus II]].<ref>''Operation Excalibur''</ref><ref name=FMFS81>''Field Manual: Federated Suns'', p. 81: "Third Davion Guards Unit Profile"</ref>

The Third Guards were nearly disbanded as a result of their actions on Hesperus II, but instead the AFFC High Command decided to give them an opportunity to redeem themselves, which the Guards embraced with a fanatical - and almost suicidal - zeal.<ref name=FMFS81/>

=== Operation BIRD DOG ===
Prior to Operation BULLDOG, a company of the Third Guards was smuggled onto Luzerne. They were assigned to cause trouble, destroy supplies, and otherwise disrupt Smoke Jaguar operations on the world. They quickly ran afoul of Kappa Galaxy's Galaxy Command Trinary, and spent several months on the run until reinforcements could arrive.<ref>''Historical Turning Points: Luzerne'', p. 6</ref> This company, Allen's Animals, was equipped with captured Clan OmniMechs and weapons. The rest of the Third saw their participation in BULLDOG as a way to make amends for their behavior with Free Skye.<ref>''Historical Turning Points: Luzerne'', p. 9</ref>

=== Operation BULLDOG ===
Assigned to take the relatively unimportant world of [[Luzerne]] during [[Operation BULLDOG]]'s second wave, the Third Guards and [[ComStar]]'s elite [[208th Division (ComStar)|208th Division]]<ref name=TDR-10>''The Dragon Roars'', pp. 10–11: "Unit Summaries - Operation Bulldog"</ref> were sent to overcome the Jaguars' [[4th Garrison (Clan Smoke Jaguar)|Fourth Provisional Garrison Cluster]].<ref name=TDR-12>''The Dragon Roars'', pp. 12–13: "Unit Summaries - Clan Smoke Jaguar Defense"</ref> The [[SLDF]] task force used a variant of the insertion used for the highly successful [[DCMS]]/[[Explorer Corps]] raid against the world in [[3055]], traveling on the ''[[Sovetskii Soyuz]]''-class heavy cruiser [[Harmonious Thought|CSV ''Harmonious Thought'']] and the ''[[Lola III]]''-class destroyer [[Leander (Individual Lola III-class WarShip)|CSV ''Leander'']] and utilizing a [[Pirate Jump Point]] formed by a little known planetoid on the fringes of the Luzerne system on June 29th, proceeding to the planet under Emission Control conditions using an inertial transfer maneuver to bypass the Jaguar picket ships virtually undetected.<ref name=TDR-24>''The Dragon Roars'', p. 24: "Wave Two: Driving Forward"</ref><ref name=TDR-26>''The Dragon Roars'', pp. 26–28: "Scenario 4: Fool Me Twice"</ref>

The plan quickly unraveled when it was discovered the newly formed and consequently unknown front-line [[6th Striker (Clan Smoke Jaguar)|Sixth Striker Cluster]] was on-world with heavy naval support in preparation for a raid against [[Clan Ghost Bear]] when Bulldog was launched. With the Smoke Jaguar forces placed on high alert after the first wave and pulling their patrol ships back to near orbit to prevent a repeat of the humiliating 3055 raid, after the Jaguars refused the SLDF's desperate request for ''[[safcon]]'', both [[Com Guards|Com Guard]] [[WarShip]]s were lost as they attempted to protect the [[DropShip]]s of the Third and 208th Division. Ultimately only half of the heavily mauled DropShips made it through the Jaguar blockade, making scattered drops rather than the planned concentrated landing.<ref name=TDR-24/><ref name=TDR-26/>

Now heavily outnumbered and completely disorganized, the remains of the Third Guards and 208th began to form up and congregate in three bastions, the largest formation an ad hoc combined arms force of two [[Battalion]]s worth of the troops<ref name=TDR-24/> from the 208th and Third located at the town of Thün. While the elite front-line Sixth Striker Cluster easily defeated any SLDF stragglers, their unfamiliarity with the world and fact they were still only partially complete greatly hampered their planned assault against the SLDF strongholds. Finally moving against now dug-in SLDF troops at Thün under cover of darkness on July 9th, the bloody battle ultimately devolved into stalemate and the Jaguars finally withdrew. With both sides now settling into a siege mentality, broken only by the occasional raid, the SLDF forces waited for reinforcements.<ref name=TDR-32>''The Dragon Roars'', pp. 32–34: "Scenario 6: The Darkest Hour"</ref>

Landing on August 1st, while the Combine's elite ''[[Ryuken-roku]]'' encountered stiff resistance, their presence ensured the battle quickly shifted in favor of the SLDF forces.<ref name=TDR-32/> The defending Sixth Striker and Fourth Garrison refused to withdraw and fought to the last man, with the remains of the Third Guards and other SLDF units finally capturing Luzerne on August 8th, only a few short days before the Jaguar high command ordered a general withdrawal from the Inner Sphere.<ref name=TDR-44>''The Dragon Roars'', p. 44: "Wave Three: Bringing Down the Jaguar"</ref> One of the casualties of Operation BULLDOG was Marshal [[Jim Seymour]], the Third's commanding officer, and command of the Guards passed to Leftenant General [[Marguerite McCaffee]], an officer who had joined the Guards after Hesperus and who had made a rapid rise in rank from Major to Leftenant General and who proved the only officer capable of pulling the command together during the action on Lucerne.<ref name=FMFS81/>

===Post-BULLDOG to FedCom Civil War===
After the conclusion of Bulldog, serious consideration was given to merging the shattered Third and 208th Division into a brand new [[Star League Defense Force]] unit, but disagreements over command structure and responsibilities led to the abandonment of the idea.<ref name=FMCS-39>''Field Manual: ComStar'', p. 39: "10th Army V-nu: The Red Legion"</ref>

Despite the large distance between them, the Third remained in constant contact with the 208th Division and even requested officer exchanges. While the requests were formally denied by the [[Katherine Steiner-Davion]]-influenced AFFC High Command in the wake of the [[Second Whitting Conference]],<ref name=FMCS-39/> a number of officers from each unit accepted lowly observer and liaison roles in the other unit to circumvent the restriction, with the 208th's [[Demi-Precentor]] III Chris Ludyan on paper a mere communications liaison but in fact fully assisting in the rebuilding and training of the Third's Armor Brigade and Demi-Precentor IV Tallulah Cloudwalker effectively in full command of the Third's hodgepodge Auxiliary [[infantry]] [[Battalion]].<ref name=FMFS81/>

===FedCom Civil War===
The Third was understrength prior to the start of the [[FedCom Civil War]] and remained that way through first three years of constant fighting. The unit was stationed in the [[Draconis March]] during this period. The Guards joined the [[first Ceti Hussars]] in assaults on [[Bryceland]] and later participated to defend [[Cassias]] against a [[Draconis Combine]] reprisal raid.  The Third remained understrength but operational through absorbing the survivors of the [[4th Davion Guards|Fourth]] and [[Fifth Davion Guards]].<ref>''Field Manual: Updates'', p. 129</ref>

===Jihad===
Arriving on [[New Avalon]] in [[3068]] the Third Guards harassed the [[Word of Blake]], distracting the Blakists from their attack on Avalon City, per [[Jackson Davion]]'s orders. Though these independent operations kept the Third from being under heavy fire, the soldiers of the Third often felt they weren't contributing anything to the planet's defense. This wasn't true: the Third Guards were instrumental in repulsing the [[36th Division (Word of Blake)|Thirty-sixth Division]] in the Cris Mountains.<ref>''Jihad Turning Points: New Avalon'', p. 8</ref> Their luck changed in the Third Battle of New Avalon, where they took heavy casualties. Once New Avalon was freed, the Third Davion Guards were disbanded and the survivors were used to reconstitute other Federated Suns units.<ref name=JTPNA6-7>''Jihad Turning Points: New Avalon'', pp. 6–7: "Combatants"</ref>

===Dark Age===
The Third was rebuilt at some point in the years of relative quiet between the end of the Jihad and the [[Dark Age]]. However, the unit was one of the many AFFS units destroyed at [[Palmyra]].<ref>''Field Manual: 3145'', p. 71</ref>

==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 Third Davion Guards'''
|-
| ||[[Hanse Davion]]||[[3011]]<ref name=HD2>''House Davion (The Federated Suns)'', p. 179</ref>
|-
| [[Marshal (rank)|Marshal]]||[[Herbert Hobaugh]]|| - [[3039]]<ref name=H:Wo3039p8>''Historical: War of 3039'', p. 8</ref>
|-
| Marshal||[[James Seymour]]||3039 - [[3057]]<ref name=H:Wo3039p8/><ref name=HW39p33>''Historical: War of 3039'', p. 33</ref><ref name=20yup27 /><ref name=FMFS81/>
|-
| [[General]]||[[Marguerite McCaffee]]||3057 - [[3068]]<ref name=FMFS81/><ref name=JTPNA6-7/>
|-
|}

===Other Unit Officers===
* [[Lieutenant]] [[Jeris Sabadesh]] during the end days of the [[Third Succession War]].<ref name=TBWCp28-29>''Tales of the Black Widow Company'', pp. 28–29</ref>

==Tactics==
Subtlety is not the Third's strong suit.  They favor frontal charges, followed by standing and delivering.  Alpha strikes are used far more often than is usually prudent.<ref>''Field Manual: Federated Suns'', pp. 81, 144</ref>

==Composition History==
===2765===
'''Third Davion Guards''' (Regiment/Regular/Fanatical)<ref name="FR:FS2765p14">''Field Report 2765: AFFS'', p. 14: "Regimental Status"</ref>
:- The Third Guards were stationed on [[Tancredi IV]] at this point in time.<ref name="FR:FS2765p14"/>

=== 2786–2821 ===
'''Third Davion Guards''' (Regiment/Regular/Fanatical)<ref name="FSWp134">''First Succession War'', p. 134: "Armed Forces of the Federated Suns (AFFS)"</ref>
:- At this point in time the Guards were a medium-weight regiment stationed on [[Tancredi IV]] and were operating at full strength.<ref name="FSWp134"/> In 2821 the unit was reduced to just over half- strength.<ref name="FSWp134"/>

=== 2830 ===
'''Third Davion Guards''' (Regiment/Regular/Fanatical)<ref name="SSWp94">''Second Succession War'', p. 94: "Armed Forces of the Federated Suns (AFFS)"</ref>
:- At this point in time the Guards were a medium-weight regiment and had rebuilt to almost ninety percent of full strength. The Guards were stationed on Tancredi IV.<ref name="SSWp94"/>

=== 2864 ===
'''Third Davion Guards''' (Regiment/Veteran/Fanatical)<ref name="SSWp94"/>
:- At this point in time the Guards were a medium-weight regiment stationed on [[Niles (DC)|Niles]], and had been reduced to less than a fifth of full strength.<ref name="SSWp94"/>

===3025===
'''Third Davion Guards RCT'''
:Noted as being understrength by 2 infantry and 1 armor regiment. No posting given.<ref name=HD139>''House Davion (The Federated Suns)'', p. 139: Is not listed in Deployment Table</ref> The 'Mech regiment contains mostly medium designs.<ref name=HD137>''House Davion (The Federated Suns)'', p. 137</ref>

===3040===
'''Third Davion Guards RCT''' (Regiment/Veteran/Fanatical)<ref name=HWo3039p136/>
:Note: At this point in time the command was stationed on [[Hesperus II]].<ref name=HWo3039p136>''Historical: War of 3039'', p. 136</ref>

===3050===
'''Third Davion Guards RCT ''' (Regiment/Veteran/Fanatical)<ref name=20yup27/>
:* CO: Marshal Jim Seymour<ref name=20yup27/>
:Note: At this point in time the command was stationed on [[Hesperus II]].<ref name=20yup27 />

===3054===
'''Third Davion Guards RCT''' (Regiment/Veteran/Fanatical)<ref name=ORp19/>
:* CO: Marshal Jim Seymour<ref name=ORp19/>
:Note: At this point in time the command was stationed on [[Hesperus II]].<ref name=ORp19>''Objective Raids'', p. 19</ref>

===3059===
By the time of its deployment on Luzerne, the Third Davion Guards RCT only had 2 armor regiments

===3062===
'''Third Davion Guards''' (Two [[Battalion]]s/Elite/Fanatical)<ref name=FMFS81/>
: CO: [[Leftenant General]] Marguerite McCaffee
:: Aide: [[Major]] [[Jena Davion-Bath]]
:: Approximately two battalions. The Third Davion Guards is made up of 17 lances (many described as understrength)

'''Third Davion Guards Aerospace [[Brigade]]''' (Two [[Squadron]]s)<ref name=FMFS81/>
: CO: [[Commodore]] [[Kuch Jukita]]
:* 134th [[Tsamma]] Air Squadron
:* Fifty-first Crucis Interceptor Squadron

'''Third Davion Guards Armor Brigade''' ([[Regiment]]/Veteran/Reliable)<ref name=FMFS81/>
: CO: [[Colonel]] [[Vladimir Rostov]]
:: Aide: [[Demi-Precentor]] III [[Chris Ludyan]]
:* Twenty-second [[St. Robert]] Armor Regiment: [[Colonel]] Vladimir Rostov

'''Third Davion Guards Infantry Brigade''' (Two Regiments/Veteran/Reliable)<ref name=FMFS81/>
: CO: Colonel [[Chien-Fen Ktorides]]
:: Aide: [[Captain]] [[Tellus Nemitz]]
:* [[Forty-fifth Cerulean Mountain Regiment]]: Colonel [[Giovanni Gervasi]]
:* Thirty-fifth Federated Suns Mechanized Rifles: Colonel [[Alexander Horvat]]
:* Third Davion Guards Combat Auxiliary: [[Demi-Precentor]] IV [[Tallulah Cloudwalker]]
:- Described as a "hodgepodge battalion" of artillery and engineers

===3067===
'''Third Davion Guards''' (1 [[Regiment]]/Elite/Fanatical)<ref name=FMUp137/>
: CO: [[General]] Marguerite McCaffee<ref name=FMUp137/>
: Note: Clan technology: 15 percent '''|''' Advanced IS technology: 85 percent '''|''' Omnis: 20 percent<ref name=FMUp137>''Field Manual: Updates'', p. 137</ref>
'''Third Davion Guards Aerospace [[Brigade]]''' (Elite/Fanatical)<ref name=FMUp137/>
: CO: Colonel [[Anders Todorovski]]
:Note: Advanced IS technology: 70 percent '''|''' Omnis: 5 percent

'''Third Davion Guards Armor Brigade''' (Elite/Reliable))<ref name=FMUp137/>
: CO: [[Colonel]] Vladimir Rostov
:Note: Advanced IS technology: 70 percent '''|''' Omnis: 20 percent

'''Third Davion Guards Infantry Brigade''' (Veteran/Reliable))<ref name=FMUp137/>
: CO: Major General [[Rolf von Gath]]

===3074===
The Third was disbanded and the survivors used to rebuild other units damaged on New Avalon.<ref>''Jihad Turning Points: New Avalon'', p. 7</ref>

==Notes==
Like all Davion Royal Brigade units, the Third's parade color scheme is the Davion family blue, white and red striping, adopting more standard camo paint in the field. The RCT patch for the Third Guards is a coiled rattlesnake.<ref name=HD1>''House Davion (The Federated Suns)'', p. 139</ref>

==Gallery==
<gallery>
Davion Guards 3rd logo 3039.png|Third Davion Guards insignia, used [[3050]] and prior
Davion Guards 3rd logo.png|Third Davion Guards insignia, used after the Fourteenth Battle of Hesperus II
</gallery>

==Reference==
<references />

==Bibliography==
<div class="desktop-3-col">
* ''[[20 Year Update]]''
* ''[[The Dragon Roars]]''
* ''[[Field Manual: 3145]]''
* ''[[Field Manual: ComStar]]''
* ''[[Field Manual: Federated Suns]]''
* ''[[Field Manual: Updates]]''
* ''[[First Succession War (sourcebook)|First Succession War]]''
* ''[[Historical: War of 3039]]''
* ''[[Historical Turning Points: Luzerne]]''
* ''[[House Davion (The Federated Suns)]]''
* ''[[Jihad Turning Points: New Avalon]]''
* ''[[NAIS The Fourth Succession War Military Atlas Volume 1]]''
* ''[[Objective Raids]]''
* ''[[Second Succession War (sourcebook)|Second Succession War]]''
* ''[[Warrior: Riposte]]''
</div>


[[Category:Federated Suns Commands|Davion Brigade of Guards, Davion Guards, 3rd]]
[[Category:Federated Commonwealth Commands|Davion Brigade of Guards, Davion Guards, 3rd]]