3rd Division (Word of Blake)

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History

Operation Odysseus

The 3rd Division was assigned Terra's Asian continent as part of Operation Odysseus. Defending ComStar forces offered little resistance to the 3rd Division until they reached China. There, the ComGuards withdrew into the T'ienchen Castle Brian, a Star League-era fortress. The entire 3rd Division was required to take fortress, losing two Level III's in the process.[1]

After Terra fell, the 3rd Division was reassigned to garrison the southern part of Africa. There they were headquartered in a Castle Brian in Magadi, Kenya. There they worked closely with the Terran Security Service to identify insurgents and stop ComGuard raids. They were quite successful.[1]

Pre-Jihad

The unit was based on Terra during most of the 3060s. The unit was dominated by a Word of Blake political faction, True Believers, which was often hounded and abused by other Blake factions in its earlier years. The unit's first commanding officer, Precentor Kanni, was relieved by Fellers in 3066. The unit had been strengthened by newly issued Battle Armor.[2]

Jihad

In 3068 elements of the Division are dispatched to Tall Trees to aid the 4th Division in securing the planet as part of the Blake Protectorate. The majority of the unit remained in the Terran system and assisted in hunting down surviving elements of Comstar's Case White invasion force. In 3069 parts of the Division participated in a grueling campaign on Al Na'ir, with hired mercenary units. They were responsible for the destruction of number of mining pressure domes to attempt to cow the planetary government into surrender.[3]

In 3070 the Third Division was augmented with FWL defectors and was dispatched to Wasat to put down insurrection caused by the Blackhearts mercenary unit.[3] Already present on Wasat were the HeavyHell Raisers and Raymond's Armored Cavalry mercenary units who had been waging an unsuccessful campaign against the Blackhearts. Precentor Fellers found himself faced with a guerilla campaign that lasted more than two years with the Blackhearts avoiding a stand-up fight. Suffering from the pressure of being unable to cope with the Blackheart's tactics, Fellers eventually threatened the destruction of Wasat Prime, the planetary capital, if the Blackhearts didn't surrender. The Blackhearts instead opted to retreat to their DropShips and escape, to which Fellers responded by using a nuclear device to destroy Wasat Prime after the Blackhearts had departed, killing the 35,000-strong population of the city.[3][4]

The unit was sent to Kalidasa and in July 3070, the mercenary unit Gannon's Cannons stroke the planet under oreders to kill or capture Precentor Timothy Mayo. The mercenaries started raiding WoB supply dumps and ambushing their patrols until a few days later they located Mayo and most of his force. A pincer movement cornered the WoB. Things were looking ok untill they downed Mayo's Grand Crusader. This set the WoB into a crazy mode and made Gannon's Cannons pay for it. There was not a single Blakist moving in the end, but the mercenaries weren’t in that much better shape. They grabbed Mayo and as much salvage as they could, then got the hell out of there.[5]

In 3073 Precentor Craig Callen relieved Division Commander Feller, who was promoted and sent to take command of the Procyon Re-Education Camp.[3]

In 3074 the unit was re-assigned to WoB's League Theater, where they assaulted Skye in June and July. They faced off with Devlin Stone and his Coalition force in a brutal battle for control of the planet. In the end, Precentor Callen and his command staff are captured by coalition forces.[6][7] After losing their command staff, the 3rd Division lost cohesion and they were whittled down to only three surviving Level IIs, which managed get off planet. They spent most of the next two years on Terra, where it was reconstituted with new recruits and members of the Protectorate Militia.

In 3077 the Third Division dropped onto Dieron to attack Combine and Ghost Bear forces. They spend much of their time acting as harasser forces, sniping at the defenders. The Ghost Bear's Rho Galaxy smashed into the Third Division, destroying most of the infantry- and armor-heavy unit. The Third withdrew from Dieron along with the survivors of the Word of Blake's 2nd Division;[8] as at 3081, the whereabouts of the 3rd Division was unknown.[9]

Officers

Rank Name Command
Commanding Officers of the 3rd Division
Precentor Randolph Kanni 3054 - 3062[1]
Precentor David Feller 3067 - 3070[10]
Precentor Craig Callen 3074[3]
Precentor VI Blair Congo 3077[8]

Tactics

The Third Division utilizes infantry tactics, by place units hidden in on coming enemies when its is defending.[11]

Composition History

3062

Five Level III formations:[1]

  • Crown of Light III-iota - CO: Precentor XIV Randolph Kani
  • Sacred Dreams III-omicron - CO: Precentor VI Shilpa Pai
  • Bloody Skies III-mu - CO: Precentor VII Vadim Kravsov
  • Blazing Hearts III-kappa - CO: (Adept XI) Demi-Precentor Elizabeth Joppa
  • Fortunes of War III-xi - CO: Demi-Precentor (Precentor IV) Craig Callen

3067

Five Level III formations:[10]

  • Crown of Light III-iota - CO: Precentor XIV David Feller
  • Sacred Dreams III-omicron - CO: Precentor XII Shipla Pal
  • Bloody Skies III-mu - CO: Demi-Precentor (Adept VII) Clair Bergstrom
  • Blazing Hearts III-kappa - CO: Demi-Precentor (Adept XVI) Elizabeth Joppa
  • Fortunes of War III-xi - CO: Demi-Precentor (Precentor X) Craig Callen

3077

Only a few troops survived the 3rd Division's time on Skye. These troops could only fill out three Level IIs when the 3rd relocated to Terra.[8] Most of the replacement troops were drawn from the Protectorate Militia, and correspondingly the unit had a large number of conventional tanks and infantry when it arrived on Dieron.[8]

Notes

Reference

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Field Manual: ComStar, p. 53, "3rd Division Unit Profile"
  2. Field Manual Updates, p. 90, "Naval Assets and Militia Divisions" - 3rd Division update.
  3. 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 Jihad Secrets: The Blake Documents, p. 97 "Free World League Theater"
  4. Mercenaries Supplemental Update, p. 34, "Blackhearts"
  5. Total Chaos, pp. 90 "BINGE, PURGE, FLUSH"
  6. Jihad Hot Spots: 3076, p. 52, "Timeline of the Jihad"
  7. Jihad: Final Reckoning, p. 53, "The Jihad In Review"
  8. 8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 Jihad Turning Points: Dieron, p. 8, 3rd Division
  9. Jihad: Final Reckoning, p. 126, "Word Of Blake Militia"
  10. 10.0 10.1 Field Manual: Updates, p. 99, "Word of Blake Militia Deployment Table - 30067"
  11. Jihad Secrets: The Blake Documents, p. 138, "Special Rules" - 3rd Division special ablities.

Bibliography