Author Topic: Brunswick's Regiment: Greasing the Treads  (Read 1594 times)

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Brunswick's Regiment: Greasing the Treads
« on: 30 September 2017, 21:54:14 »
Brunswick's Regiment: Tradition, Aggression, Devastation
Circa 3145

Brunswick's Regiment dates back to the last days of the First Succession War, when its founder, Count Elric Brunswick of Baryshevo pledged funds and resources to raise an Assault Battlemech Regiment for the beleagued LCAF. However, with so many formations in desperate need of rebuilding, this lofty goal could never be achieved, and by the end of the First Succession War, the "Regiment" could barely muster a company of battlemechs, and it was only because of the Brunswick Family's contacts at court that it wasn't disbanded completely. Brunswick's Regiment lingered through the interwar years as a virtual "paper regiment", rarely mustering more than a single mech lance, until the buildup to the Second Succession War caused the LCAF to give them another look. With war becoming all but certain, in 2829 the LCAF authorized then Colonel Jaime Brunswick to draft local militia forces from his homeworld of Baryshevo to outfit his unit as a heavy combined arms regiment. Colonel Brunswick complied enthusiastically, and while available battlemechs remained scarce, he was quickly able to assemble a powerful reinforced regiment of heavy armor and mechanized infantry, supported by his personal company of battlemechs. Relentless drilling by the newly organized formation meant that by the time the Second Succession War began in 2830, Colonel Brunswick was able to present a well trained, disciplined fighting force to the LCAF, who quickly sent them into battle against the Commonwealth's enemies.

Brunswick's Regiment has served the LCAF continuously ever since, fighting in every major conflict the Commonwealth has faced, from their participation in the defense of Moore on the outset of the Second Succession War, to their successful solo defense of Rosice against the forces of the Wolf Empire during the darkest days of the Wolf and Falcon invasions. The regiment has always been a solid bulwark for the LCAF to rely on, though their official status as a conventional regiment regularly denies them the recognition they are usually due for their service, though this is beginning to change following their most recent victory.

When a mixed cluster of Wolf troops landed on Rosice, the planetary administration ordered all military forces to stand down, believing resistance futile. Blatantly disregarding orders, Brunswick's Regiment (the sole LCAF formation on the planet) boldly marched out to meet the invading wolves. The initial engagement seemed to end in disaster, with a battalion of Brunswick's armor badly savaged and thrown into a route, though this proved only to be bait for a trap as the pursuing Wolves were drawn into an ambush in the Rowan forest by the regiment's heavy infantry, field guns, and remaining armored forces. The wolves saw their infantry and lightest units obliterated with massed artillery cannon fire, and their heavier formations relentlessly pressed from nearly every direction. Following the death of their commanding officer, killed trying to engage Brunswick's presumed command lance, the senior-most surviving wolf requested hegira. Six regiments of planetary militia, finally roused to action, arrived at the battlefield to find out the enemy was already in full retreat. Though the Regiment had technically violated the chain of command by engaging the enemy, they were celebrated across a Commonwealth desperate for heroes in this increasingly grim and disastrous conflict.

In the aftermath of the battle of Rosice, Brunswick's Regiment has been recalled to their homeworld of Baryshevo, both to replace the moderate losses sustained during the battle, and to act as a training unit for additional conventional formations being raised from across the Lyran rim to shore up the faltering LCAF. Most of their personnel resent this new posting, believing they were taken off the line to serve as a propaganda tool, though their oldest officers are quick to point out that the war is far from over, and doubtless Brunswick's Regiment will be called on to fight again.

Brunswick's Regiment uses a flat green paint scheme with a gold band running from front to back (or from shoulder to foot on battlemechs) on the left side, and dark red accents on the right. These red accents can vary considerably from crew to crew or pilot to pilot, ranging from a simple red band to intricate geometric or flowing patterns.

Officers

William Brunswick is the current reigning count of Baryshevo as well as the current commander of the Regiment. As most of his ancestors have done during wartime, he has ceded his administrative powers over the planet to a civilian council for the duration of the current conflict, however, with his regiment currently based on his homeworld, many are calling him to once again take up power. He remains hesitant to do so, concentrating instead on his LCAF duties. Though a trained mechwarrior like the rest of his line, Brunswick is an ardent advocate of conventional combat formations, and regularly advocates the formation of massed, purely conventional brigades as a way to quickly bulk up the LCAF and take the offensive against the Commonwealth's enemies. As the ruler of a minor world and commander of what was long considered a "mere" conventional regiment, his opinions were always easy for the LCAF high command to dismiss or ignore, however with his newfound celebrity following the defense of Rosice, there are those who are beginning to listen.

Support

As an LCAF line unit currently in good standing, Brunswick's Regiment has little to worry about when it comes to supplies. Their current rear-area posting has complicated logistics to some degree, but the steady flow of new battalion and regimental sized conventional units coming to Baryshevo for training has kept them firmly placed within the supply chain. Despite their success on Rosice, Brunswick's Regiment can never expect to operate with the independence of a front line battlemech unit, thus any transport needs are allocated on an as needed basis. Though once again, the steady flow of troops too and from Baryshevo means transportation is always readily available should the need arise.


Brunswick's Regiment
Reinforced Regiment/Veteran/Fanatical

Structurally similar to a small LCT, since the Second Succession War, Brunswick's Regiment has been organized as a reinforced regiment composed of three battalions of heavy armor and two heavily armed mechanized infantry battalions, supported by a lone company of battlemechs.

For most of the regiment's history, the armored battalions utilized the Manticore heavy tank exclusively, even as the newer Rommel and Patton became available. Heavy losses and the poor supply situation during the Jihad forced a change in these practices, however, as the commander of the era (Fabian Brunswick), was forced to accept whatever was available simply to maintain the unit's strength. In the post Jihad era, the armored battalions remain varied in composition, though a new variant of the venerable Marsden, as well as the Rommel Howitzer, are common sights. 

The mechanized infantry battalions have long made heavy use of field guns and field artillery, and were among the first to receive snub nosed artillery cannons for field testing during the late third succession war. In addition to the firepower of these field pieces, the infantrymen themselves wear heavy body armor and have a large supply of SRMs, LAWs, and heavy support lasers. As was demonstrated in the Rowan Forest on Rosice, this combination can make them lethal on the battlefield. Brunswick's Regiment has never had battle armor in their TOE, though Colonel Brunswick is currently in negotiations to have an additional battalion of battle armor attached to the unit if and when they return to the front lines, and the regiment currently trains extensively with and against battle armor.

The battlemech company is maintained out of a sense of tradition rather than practical military need, with the mechs usually serving as support units wherever they are immediately needed. Strictly speaking, the formation is classified as a heavy battlemech force, though this is more due to the so-called Command Lance skewing the average. A full lance of Atlas battlemechs, the Command Lance is the oldest formation in continuous service, its battlemechs dating back to the unit's initial founding during the First Succession War (though each has been significantly upgraded as new technology became available). Despite the unit name, the commander of Brunswick's Regiment has historically only occasionally been a pilot in the Command Lance (William Brunswick actually pilots an heirloom Marauder prototype captured before the original Clan Invasion), however the name is kept out of a sense of tradition, though it also occasionally serves to confuse or mislead the enemy. On a few occasions, the Command Lance has been used to bait enemies into a trap by dangling a high value, apparently exposed target in front of them, only for their opponents to find themselves surrounded by hidden infantry or armor, or simply overwhelmed by an Atlas lance.

Game Rules:

Brunswick's regiment may use the Forcing the Initiative special ability.

The famous Command Lance is composed entirely of Atlas Battlemechs. Though these were originally AS7-D models piloted by former members of the SLDF (none of whom were actually the regimental commander) they have been steadily tinkered with, upgraded, and rebuilt in the centuries since. Thus these mechs may be chosen from any era appropriate Atlas variant available to the Lyran Commonwealth/Lyran Alliance/Federated Commonwealth, save the Atlas-C. Note that this does not include the Atlas II or the Atlas III, and even if you choose the odd duck AS7-K2/3/4, it's still going to look like a classic Atlas. Tradition is important to Brunswick's regiment, and these new Atlases are ugly.
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