Editing 8th FedCom RCT

{{infoBoxMilitaryCommand
| image = [[Image:FedCom Corps 08th logo.png|150px]]
| Designation = Eighth FedCom RCT
| Formed = [[3041]]<ref name=FMFSp96>''Field Manual: Federated Suns'', p. 96: "8th FedCom RCT: The Katzbalger"</ref>
| Disbanded = [[3064]] (destroyed)<ref name=FCCW95>''FedCom Civil War'', pp. 95–96: "Kathil"</ref>
| Previous Designation = 
| Nickname = The Katzbalger
| Affiliation = [[Federated Commonwealth]]<br/>(until 3062)
----
[[Loyalist (FCCW)|Loyalists]]<br/>(3062 - 3064)
| Parent Command = [[Federated Commonwealth Corps]]
| Sub-Command = 
}}
Though it fired some of the first shots of the [[FedCom Civil War]], the Loyalist '''Eighth FedCom RCT''' was later destroyed in the bitter fighting on their homeworld of [[Kathil]].  Their belligerence contributed to the shattering and eventual dissolution of the [[Federated Commonwealth]] and the [[Federated Commonwealth Corps]].

==History==
Formed in [[3041]], two years later than planned due to the [[AFFC]]'s need to recover from the disastrous [[War of 3039]], the Eighth FedCom RCT ended up benefiting from that conflict as it gave officers transferred to its command a higher than average experience level. Despite not having seen combat together as a unit, the AFFC High Command nevertheless rated the untested Eighth quite highly thanks to the standards of excellence maintained by the unit's combat veteran officers.<ref name=FMFSp96/>

In [[3049]], the Eighth was assigned to [[Second Try]] in the [[Sarna March]] as a garrison force.<ref name=20yup23>''20 Year Update'', p. 23</ref> When the world was targeted in the [[Marik-Liao Invasion of 3057]], the Eighth inflicted serious damage on the attackers before being forced to with withdraw to bolster the defense of [[Kathil]] against further [[Capellan Confederation]] aggression.<ref name=FMFSp96/>

===FedCom Civil War===
{{seealso|Battle of Kathil (3062)}}
When rumblings of the coming conflict between [[Allies (FCCW)|pro-Victor]] and [[Loyalist (FCCW)|pro-Katherine]] factions reached the ears of [[Field Marshal]] [[Duke]] [[George Hasek]], he issued orders to the Eighth FedCom RCT to depart [[Kathil]] for [[Halloran V]] in October [[3062]].  Duke Hasek, who wished to remain neutral in any conflict between the two siblings, knew that the Eighth were staunch supporters of [[Katherine Steiner-Davion|Katherine]] and did not want any trouble to start in the [[Capellan March]].  Unfortunately, General Weintraub had received orders from the [[Archon-Princess]] herself to remain on the world and flat-out refused Hasek's orders, stating that her authority was much higher than the Duke's.  In response, Hasek ordered the [[First Capellan Dragoons]] to station themselves on Kathil and watch the Eighth.<ref name=FCCWp22>''FedCom Civil War'', pp. 22–23: "Kathil"</ref>

Knowing that Hasek's troops were not long in coming, Weintraub occupied Kathil's capital of District City, captured the Duke of Kathil, and placed the planet under martial law.  In response to this bold move, the commanding officer of the [[Kathil CMM]] ordered that General Weintraub and his staff be arrested.  The men sent to arrest the Loyalists were discovered and fired upon, leading to a series of indecisive skirmishes between the Eighth FedCom and the Kathil CMM.  Weintraub and the Eighth quickly captured a [[Yare Industries]] power uplink center and an [[Avalon|Avalon-class]] battlecruiser, but were driven back by the CMM and the [[Second NAIS Training Cadre]].  This counterattack wiped out a full battalion of the Eighth's 'Mechs along with two support battalions, destroyed the captured battlecruiser, and killed Leftenant General Fallon.  Riding this momentum, the Kathil CMM drove the Eighth FedCom back into District City, freeing the imprisoned Duke, and corralling the Loyalist unit inside the city's General Motors factory complex.  There the Eighth FedCom held the line, hoping for reinforcements.<ref name=FCCWp22/>

In February 3063, the [[Eighth Donegal Guards]] arrived to reinforce them, but were shortly followed by the [[First Capellan Dragoons]] and the [[Sixth Syrtis Fusiliers]], who reinforced the Allied units there.<ref name=FCCWp56>''FedCom Civil War'', pp. 56–57: "Kathil"</ref>  The fight quickly became a bloody, months-long stalemate between the Allied and Loyalist units.  The Eighth FedCom was able to temporarily bolster Loyalist morale by rescuing nearly five thousand Loyalist POWs from Allied hands in January of 3064, but an Allied breakout resulted in Weintraub and his Eighth being separated from the bulk of the Loyalist forces.<ref name=FCCWp76>''FedCom Civil War'', pp. 76–77</ref>

It was now that Weintraub's curtailing of his subordinates' tactical flexibility would come back to haunt him.  Having to send all decisions up the chain of command for approval, his unit commanders lost critical time and adaptability in the face of a concentrated Fifth Davion Guards assault.  On 23 March, the Eighth's lines broke for the last time. The BattleMechs of the First Capellan Dragoons poured in through the gaps, blazing onwards to an attack on the RCT's rear area in Birkshire Forest and overrunning Weintraub's command post.  The Hauptmann General sent out an urgent request for all of his forces to converge on his position, but was killed at the controls of his ''[[Nightstar]]'' before they could arrive.  When the remains of the Eighth FedCom finally arrived, they eventually wiped out the Dragoons, but only after a costly, bloody brawl.  Now weakened by the Dragoons' furious last stand, the Eighth's survivors were easily mopped up by the advancing Fifth Davion Guards.<ref name=FCCW95/>

Due to their bitter role in the destruction of the Federated Commonwealth, the FedCom Corps, including the Eighth FedCom was stricken from the rolls of the AFFS.  What little matériel and troops that survived the Eighth's destruction was reassigned to other units once the Civil War ended.<ref name=FMUp130>''Field Manual: Updates'', p. 130</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 Eighth FedCom RCT'''
|-
| [[Hauptmann General]]||[[Mitchell Weintraub]]||[[3041]]<ref name=FMFSp96/> - [[3064]]<ref name=FCCW95/>
|-
|}

===Other Officers===
* [[Leftenant General]] [[Karen Fallon]] was Mitchell Weintraub's executive officer.<ref name=FPN>''Flashpoint'', p. ?{{cn}}</ref>
* [[Leftenant]] [[Xander Barajas]] was the [[MechWarrior (pilot)|MechWarrior]] who fired the first shot in the FedCom Civil War.<ref name=FCCWp17>''FedCom Civil War'', p. 17: "Final Thoughts"</ref>

==Tactics==
The Eighth favored combat in open terrain, where they could concentrate their firepower, but they also proved highly adept at assault operations, dislodging even the most dug-in units.  The Eighth was known to have a preference for 'Mechs that made use of [[Long-Range Missile|long-range missiles]], and possessed a large number of such designs as the ''[[Rakshasa]]'', ''[[Salamander]]'', and ''[[Orion]]''.<ref name=FPN/>

==Composition History==
===3050===
'''Eighth FedCom RCT ''' (Regiment/Regular/Reliable)<ref name=20yup23/>
:* CO: [[Hauptmann General]] Mitchell Weintraub<ref name=20yup23/>
:* Base: [[Second Try]]<ref name=20yup23/>

===3054===
'''Eighth FedCom RCT''' (Regiment/Regular/Reliable)<ref name=ORp17/>
:* CO: [[Hauptmann General]] Mitchell Weintraub<ref name=ORp17/>
:* Base: [[Second Try]]<ref name=ORp17>''Objective Raids'', p. 17</ref>

===3062===
'''Eighth FedCom RCT''' (Regular/Reliable)<ref name=FMFSp96/>
:* CO: [[Hauptmann General]] Mitchell Weintraub<ref name=FMFSp96/>
:* Base: [[Kathil]]<ref name=FMFSp96p135>''Field Manual: Federated Suns'', p. 135: "Federated Suns Forces"</ref>

:'''Eighth FedCom Regiment''' (1 Regiment/Regular/Reliable)<ref name=FMFSp96/>
::* CO: [[Hauptmann General]] Mitchell Weintraub
:::* XO: [[Leftenant General]] [[Karen Fallon]]
:'''Eighth FedCom Aerospace Brigade''' - (3 [[Wing]]s/Regular/Reliable)
::* [[Leftenant General]] Jocasta Carlton

:'''Eighth FedCom Armor Brigade''' (3 Regiments/Regular/Reliable)<ref name=FMFSp96/>
::* CO: Leftenant General Michelle Dettori
:::* Eighth FedCom Heavy Armor
::::* CO: Leftenant General Michelle Dettori
:::* Ninth FedCom Heavy Armor
::::* CO: Leftenant General Garry Duffield
:::* Eighth FedCom Armored Cavalry
::::* CO: Leftenant General Natalie Polard

:'''Eighth FedCom Infantry Brigade''' - (5 [[Infantry]] Regiments/Regular/Reliable)<ref name=FMFSp96/>
::* CO: Leftenant General Nicki Little
:::* Eleventh FedCom Infantry Regiment
::::* CO: Leftenant General Casey Siddons
:::* Twelfth FedCom Infantry Regiment
::::* CO: Leftenant General Norton Polli
:::* [[Eleventh FedCom Mechanized Infantry]]
::::* CO: Leftenant General Charles Price
:::* [[Twelfth FedCom Mechanized Infantry]]
::::* CO: Leftenant General Evantha Lowe
:::* Sixth FedCom Jump Infantry
::::* CO: Leftenant General Yoshitomi Tendo

==Unit Colors and Insignia==
* Like other FedCom RCTs, the Eighth primarily used the FedCom Corps crest as their insignia, before adopting a circular crest with a Capellan ''[[Huron Warrior]]'' run though by a broadsword after their withdrawal from Second Try.
* The parade colors of the Eighth, and all other FedCom Corps units, was navy blue with gold banding on the arms and legs of 'Mechs. Gold is also used to highlight panels on the upper torsos of 'Mechs and turrets of armor units, resulting in a checkerboard pattern.

==Notes==
* The ''katzbalger'' was a sixteenth-and-seventeenth-century arming sword used by ''Landsknecht'' archers and pikemen when enemies closed to the distance that bows or pikes were no longer practical.  Literally translated from German, the term means "cat skin" or "cat brawl," referring to either the method by which it was carried or the manner in which it was used.  The Eighth FedCom RCT preferred to use the latter definition, enjoying a reputation for close-quarters undisciplined combat.<ref name=FPc3>''Flashpoint'', ch. 3</ref>
* The Eighth FedCom RCT and the Sixth FedCom RCT appear to share their infantry regiments.  This is likely due to a misprint or error, as the commanding officers of each subunit are different.

==Reference==
<references/>

==Bibliography==
* ''[[20 Year Update]]''
* ''[[FedCom Civil War (sourcebook)|FedCom Civil War]]''
* ''[[Field Manual: Federated Suns]]''
* ''[[Field Manual: Updates]]''
* ''[[Flashpoint (novel)|Flashpoint]]''


[[Category:Federated Commonwealth Commands|FedCom RCT, 08th]]