Editing 4th Royal Guards

{{Cleanup|reason=review needed|date=September 2023}}

{{infoBoxMilitaryCommand
| image          = [[Image:4th_Royal_Guards_2596.png|200 px]]
| Designation    = 4th Royal Guards
| formed         = 
| Disbanded      = 
| Previous Designation = 
| Nickname       = Pride of the Commonwealth
| Affiliation    = Lyran Commonwealth
| Parent Command = [[Royal Guards]]
| Sub-Command    = 
}}

One of the prestige units of the [[Lyran Commonwealth Armed Forces]] in the early [[Succession Wars (History)|Succession Wars]], the '''4th Royal Guards''' were destroyed in [[2848]] but ultimately served as the trigger for [[Operation Praying Mantis]], the assassination of [[Coordinator]] [[Yoguchi Kurita]].  Centuries later they were rebuilt in the aftermath of the [[Jihad]]. 

==History==
Whereas the 1st Royal Guards represent Donegal, the 2nd Royal Guards, Skye and the 3rd Royal Guards , Tamar, the 4th represented a united Lyran Commonwealth.  The breadth of officers available, and the prestige of representing the Commonwealth as a whole, made invitations to the elite 4th the most coveted posting within the LCAF.<ref name=HSLC5>''Field Manual: Lyran Alliance'', p. 95 - "Royal Guards"</ref>

They served as part of the Lyran Auxiliary Corps during the Reunification War, where they developed a reputation for seizing beachheads and landing zones for other units and breaching fortifications.<ref>''Historical: Reunification War'', p. 40</ref>

===Star League Era===
====Reunification War====
[[Operation Mailed Fist]], the pacification of the rebellious [[Rim Worlds Republic]] during the [[Reunification War]], was entrusted to [[Archon]] [[Viola Steiner-Dinesen]] of the [[Lyran Commonwealth]].  Though nominally a Lyran operation against the Republic benefiting the [[Star League]], the invasion force initially deployed consisted mainly of [[Star League Defense Force]] Regulars and the [[Free Worlds League Military]].  However, the 4th Royal Guards were among the units deployed against the Rim Worlds Republic, the personal guardians of then Archon Viola. 

Though acquitting themselves quite well, the campaign to conquer the Rim Worlds Republic was quite difficult, due to

* the immense Republican army composed mainly of conventional infantry and vehicles
* Archon Viola's outside distractions (specifically the kidnapping of the [[Archon-Designate]] by [[Estates General]] Speaker [[Henry Gram]])<ref name=HSLC1>''Field Manual: Lyran Alliance'', p. 10 - "Star League"</ref>

On June 19, [[2591]] the Archon and the 4th was on [[Barcelona]] when she received word that her son had been kidnapped by the dukes of [[Skye]] and [[Tamar]]. Overcome with grief and rage, the Archon mounted her 'Mech and attacked the base camp of the [[25th Skye Rangers|25th Skye Rangers]] and [[Tamar Tigers]]. Completely unprepared for this assault, many of the Rangers and Tigers died. The 4th Royal tried to stop the Archon while protecting her from the other [[LCAF]] units, but it took the intervention of the [[SLDF]] to stop the fighting. At least 117 people died during the Day of Rage, and the Rangers and Tigers requested release to return home.<ref>''Historical: Reunification War'', p. 137</ref>

Fourteen years into the campaign, in March, [[2595]], the 4th Royal and Archon Viola landed on [[Apollo (planet)|Apollo]].  Sensing her opportunity, Archon Viola decided to risk herself and two companies of her best soldiers to win the war.  Elements of the 4th would try to draw the Republican line thin, allowing the remainder of the regiment to break through the weak point.   A communications failure doomed the plan, and Archon Viola's two companies were trapped by three Republican regiments.  Though the 4th was able to fight free of the trap, Archon Viola had suffered mortal wounds, and died one month later.<ref name=HSLC2>''The Periphery (sourcebook)'', p. 43 - "Operation Mailed Fist"</ref>

====Later Star League Era====
As of [[2765]], the 4th Royal Guards were stationed on [[Coventry]] for rest and refit following a classified assignment in or near the [[Periphery]], with not even the [[Star League Intelligence Command]] able to obtain any more information on the assignment despite the unit's warriors extensive visits to the classes at the [[Coventry School of Warfare]] or work with the test pilots at the famed [[Coventry Metal Works]]. <ref name=FR2765LCAF-17>''Field Report 2765: LCAF'', p. 17, "Royal Guards"</ref>

===Succession War Era===
Early in the [[Second Succession War]] the Fourth Royal Guards was dispatched to Kobe in June [[2835]] with the [[13th Arcturan Guards|Thirteenth Arcturan Guards]]. Landing with the objective of destroying the Combine raiders who had plagued the Lyran Commonwealth, the Fourth and its Guards counterparts were too ponderous to do more than separate the nimble [[2nd Rasalhague Regulars|Second]] and [[5th Rasalhague Regulars|Fifth Rasalhague Regulars]] from their [[DropShip|DropShips]]. Instead the Lyran soldiers suffered disproportionate losses to enemy hit-and-run strikes before the Combine troops were able to escape Kobe.<ref>''Second Succession War'', p. 44</ref>

====New Caledonia====
In [[2841]] the Fourth was deployed to [[New Caledonia]] in anticipation of a Combine assault. Expecting to be relieved not long after the fighting began in May - within a few months at worst - the Fourth instead became bogged down in a protracted conflict that lasted for seven years. Contrary to popular myths, the Fourth was not totally unsupported during this time - the Twenty-fourth York Regulars and six New Caledonian militia regiments lent valuable assistance - but the situation within the Commonwealth meant that little outside relief was forthcoming.<ref>''Second Succession War'', p. 56</ref>

The Fourth's commander Colonel [[Tiber Hinders]] at first attempted to inflict heavy enough losses upon the Combine invasion force to convince the DCMS to call off the offensive, but the [[Coordinator|Coordinator's heir]] [[Hugai Kurita]] carved out a secure landing zone through sheer determination and ensured that the battle would drag on. Every attack and defensive move the Fourth made was countered by the DCMS forces. After the hidden Caledonia aerodromes were compromised and destroyed by the Kurita forces, Hinders and his brother [[Michael Hinders|Michael]] could only conclude there was a spy in their midst. With the aid of the spy and [[Archon]] [[Claudius Steiner|Claudius Steiner's]] indifference to Hinders and the [[LCAF]] high command's pleas for aid, the Fourth was utterly destroyed in July [[2848]]. <ref name=HSLC3>''House Steiner (The Lyran Commonwealth)'', p. 61 - "Death of the Fourth"</ref>

Hugai Kurita, feeling the need for entertainment to celebrate his victory, offered Colonel Hinder the chance to duel the "traitor", the Lyran officer leaping at the chance to take revenge for his destroyed unit. Taken to a bowl shaped valley surrounded by Kuritan troops, Hinders and the traitor both received a battered and weaponless ''[[Thunderbolt]]'' to destroy their foe. Smashing and battering each other for over two hours as the Combine forces watched, Colonel Hinders, now dying from radiation poisoning from his 'Mech's damaged reactor shielding, made one final desperate attack and defeated his foe. After removing the cockpit canopy of the "traitor"s 'Mech, a horrified Tiber Hinders was confronted by his brother Michael's body. Though nobody knows if he really was the spy or the whole duel was just part of game played by the sadistic Kurita, Hugai "humanely" dispatched the despairing Colonel Hinders with a laser blast, making sure to record and send the event to Claudius Steiner.<ref name=HSLC3>''House Steiner (The Lyran Commonwealth)'', p. 61 - "Death of the Fourth"</ref>

While he had previously ignored the pleas to save the 4th Royal, Hugai's calculated insult led Claudius to secretly initiate Operation Praying Mantis. While he wouldn't live to see it come to fruition, a [[LIC]] deep-cover operative known only as [[Snow Fire]] succeeded in killing Coordinator [[Yoguchi Kurita]] in [[2848]], placing a hand embroidered version of the regimental patch of the 4th Royal Guards on his body before she took her own life.<ref name=HSLC4>''House Steiner (The Lyran Commonwealth)'', p. 61 - "Operation Praying Mantis"</ref> The fact that her true love was apparently a member of the destroyed Fourth lent her actions the air of tragic romance and helped inspire countless paintings, dramas and ballads celebrating her actions across the Inner Sphere.

The 4th Royal Guards was among the units added to the Commonwealth's [[List of Honored Missing]] during the Succession Wars, its name read out by the Archon on both [[Veteran's Day]] and the anniversary of the Commonwealth's founding.<ref name=HSTLC-65>''House Steiner (The Lyran Commonwealth)'', p. 65 "What, Me Worry?"</ref>

===Dark Age Era===
The pinnacle of the parade following Archon [[Adam Steiner]]'s Independence Day speech on January 5th, [[3084]] which announced the renaming of the [[Lyran Alliance]] back to the Lyran Commonwealth, was the appearance of the reborn 4th Royal Guards. Adam proclaimed the reborn 4th as the renewed symbol of the unity of the Commonwealth new and old, to thunderous celebration.<ref name=FM3085-94>''Field Manual: 3085'', p. 94 "The Lyran Commonwealth - General Review"</ref> The Fourth's revival strengthened the morale of the entire Royal Guards.<ref name=FM3085-104>''Field Manual: 3085'', p. 104 "The Lyran Commonwealth - Royal Guards - Fourth Royal Guards"</ref>

The return of the 4th shocked both the Lyran public as well as the other Great Houses and the [[Republic of the Sphere]], the Commonwealth's neighbors horrified that the then-[[LAAF]] was to assemble a few hundred of its best troops, support staff, logistical support and enough matériel for almost a full [[RCT]] in total secrecy.<ref name=FM3085-95>''Field Manual: 3085'', p. 95 "The Lyran Commonwealth - Revitalizing the Military"</ref> With none of the elite soldiers invited to join the 4th refusing,  the 4th Royal Guards were arguably the most skilled unit of the post-Jihad LCAF, only hampered by the unit's newness and lack of combat action as a combined unit. In many respects the new 4th was built with an eye towards the future, with the oldest member of the unit under fifty as of 3085 and the Lyran Quartermaster showing clear favoritism toward them.<ref name=FM3085-104/>

The 4th Royal Guards saw extensive action during the Commonwealth's assault into the [[Duchy of Tamarind-Abbey]]. They established landing zones on [[Tamarind]], [[Saltillo]], and [[Kosciusko]]<ref>''Technical Readout: 3145 Lyran Commonwealth'', pp. 6, 12</ref>. They were also responsible for defending Tamarind from the [[8th Tamarind Regulars|8th Tamarind Regulars]] in [[3138]] when the Regulars tried to retake the world.<ref>''Technical Readout: 3145 Lyran Commonwealth'', p. 44</ref>

During these attacks of [[Operation HAMMERFALL]] they were known for never backing down and their unwavering stand against enemy forces. This skill in withstanding overwhelming odds led the Archon to assign the 4th as the garrison for [[Hesperus II]]. The unit also provided a squad of battle armor troopers to augment the Archon's personal protection on [[Tharkad]].<ref>''Field Manual: 3145'', p. 124</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 the 4th Royal Guards'''
|-
| [[Colonel]]||[[Tiber Hinders]]||[[2841]] - [[2848]]
|-
| [[Leutnant-General]]||[[Thorkil Hammersmith]]||[[3085]]<ref name=FM3085p108>''Field Manual: 3085'', p. 108, "LAAF Deployment Table - 3085"</ref><ref name=FM3085-104/>
|-
| [[Hauptmann General]]||[[Charles Green]]||[[3138]]-[[3145]]<ref name=FM:3145p133>''Field Manual: 3145'', p. 133, "Lyran Commonwealth Armed Forces - Donegal Province"</ref><ref name=TRO3145LC>''Technical Readout: 3145 Lyran Commonwealth'', p. 44</ref><ref name=TRO3150>''Technical Readout: 3150'', p. 186</ref>
|-
|}

==Tactics==
Unknown.

==Composition History==

===2765===
'''4th Royal Guards''' (Regiment/Elite/Fanatical)<ref name=FR2765LCAF-17/>
: Note: At this point in time the unit was stationed on [[Coventry]]. 
=== 2786 - 2821===
'''4th Royal Guards ''' (Regiment/Elite/Fanatical) <ref name= FSSp139 >''First Succession War'', p. 139</ref>
: Note: At this point in time the heavy-weight unit was stationed on [[Coventry]]. In 2821 the command was reduced to 44 percent of its strength and was deployed on [[Coventry]]. <ref name= FSSp139/>
=== 2830 ===
'''4th Royal Guards''' (Regiment/11/Fanatical) <ref name=2ndSSp99>''Second Succession War'', p. 99 </ref>
: Note: At this point in time the heavy-weight unit was stationed on [[Coventry]] with an operational readiness of 101 percent. <ref name=2ndSSp99/> The unit was destroyed during the war.<ref name=2ndSSp99/>

===3085===
'''4th Royal Guards RCT''' (Elite/Fanatical)<ref name=FM3085p108/><br> 
CO: Leutnant-General [[Thorkil Hammersmith]]<br>

'''4th Royal Aerospace''' (Veteran/Fanatical)<ref name=FM3085p108/> <br>
CO: Kaptain [[Anil Berg]]<br>

'''4th Royal Armor Brigade''' (Veteran/Fanatical)<ref name=FM3085p108/><br>
CO: Colonel [[Venyamin Weigand]]<br>

'''4th Royal Infantry Brigade''' (Elite/Fanatical)<ref name=FM3085p108/><br>
CO: Colonel [[Faustus Ó Dálaigh]]<br>

===3145===
'''4th Royal Guards''' (Elite/Fanatical)<ref name=FM:3145p133/><br>
CO: Hauptmann General Charles Green<br>

'''4th Royal Aerospace''' (Elite/Fanatical)<ref name=FM:3145p133/><br>
CO: Kaptain [[Rachel Wright]]<br>

'''4th Royal Armor Brigade''' (Elite/Fanatical)<ref name=FM:3145p133/><br>
CO: Colonel [[Louise Turner]]<br>

'''4th Royal Infantry Brigade''' (Elite/Fanatical)<ref name=FM:3145p133/><br>
CO: Colonel [[Sean Russel]]<br>

===Recruitment===
Like all Lyran Royal Guards, the 4th was formed (and replenished its battlefield losses) with only the best warriors, by invitation only.  The breadth of officers available, and the prestige of representing the Commonwealth as a whole, made invitations to the elite 4th the most coveted posting within the LCAF.<ref name=HSLC5>''Field Manual: Lyran Alliance'', p. 95 - "Royal Guards"</ref>

==References==
<references />

==Bibliography==
*''[[Field Manual: 3085]]''
*''[[Field Manual: 3145]]''
*''[[Field Manual: Lyran Alliance]]''
*''[[First Succession War (sourcebook)]]''
*''[[Historical: Reunification War]]''
*''[[House Davion (The Federated Suns)]]''
*''[[House Kurita (The Draconis Combine)]]''
*''[[House Steiner (The Lyran Commonwealth)]]''
*''[[The Periphery (sourcebook)]]''
*''[[Second Succession War (sourcebook)]]''
*''[[Technical Readout: 3145 Lyran Commonwealth]]''

[[Category:Lyran Commands|Royal Guards, 4th]]