One of the consequences of the long-running FCCW was the concentration of conventional ‘Mech forces around House capitals such as Tharkad, New Avalon, Sian and Atreus. In addition, occurrences such as the conflicts between the Combine and the Ghost Bears, or Duke Sandoval’s quixotic attack on the Combine, also led to the redeployment of garrison units to active duty. Many regular forces left their garrisons, often on Periphery worlds, as they coped with the demands of one faction or another.
This of course left many member worlds feeling nervous, unprotected, and betrayed. A common response by planetary governments to these feelings was to bulk up their conventional militia armed forces in place of the absent regular units. The result was a brief renaissance of conventional light and medium military vehicle development – most such planets lacking the industrial base for vehicles such as the Demolisher II, let alone fusion-powered ‘Mechs. While some major armaments producers brought out offerings for this market – the Capellan’s “Po” being an excellent example – other worlds sought to become more self-reliant.
Typical of these so-called “50 cent armies” (based on the typical low cost of the units so produced) was that developed by the Camlann Militia.
The Camlann Militia fields six regiments as of 3067, all formed around a standard model. Each regiment consists of three regular battalions, plus regimental headquarters units to approximately another battalion’s strength. Since the initiation of the Militia program with two regiments in 3061, the Militia has expanded by raising another two regiments every three years.
The FinishersThe makeup of the 3rd Regiment, Camlann Militia (“The Finishers”) is representative of the Militia regiments. The Third lacks the prestige of the 1st “Penguyn Guards” Regiment, but is better-equipped than the newer 5th “Iron Raptors” or 6th “Sandmen” Regiments. The 3rd has been 75% upgraded with new armor and artillery, passing much of its older equipment on during the raising of the 5th Regiment.
The TO&E currently stands at:
- A Cavalry battalion, with two companies of attack/recon hovercraft and one company of hover-mechanised infantry
- An Armor battalion, with two companies of medium and heavy armor and one company of mechanised infantry in tracked or wheeled APCs
- A Motor-Rifle battalion, with a company of support armor and two companies of mechanised infantry in lighter APCs.
- Regimental sub-units such as tracked and towed artillery, dedicated battlefield AA and combat engineers, plus the RHQ.
The other 5 regiments are structured along the same lines, with some variation. The 1st, for example, has an extra Armor battalion, while the 6th (being the youngest unit, it currently lacks sufficient armor) consists of a Cavalry battalion and two Motor-Rifle battalions, and uses Nashorns as its primary armor vehicles.
The 3rd is also supplemented by the attachment of an experimental unit, the 1st Air Cavalry Squadron. This unit is listed as a reinforced company, but with its associated support vehicles is effectively a light battalion in and of itself. The AirCav, as it is known, is described in greater detail later.
The 3rd is assigned to the continent of Trudeau (the second-largest), with primary responsibility for the major cities of Koenigsdorf, Logan, MacKinleysburg, the iron ore reserves of Kingston, and the Torontosfeld oilfields. The mainly open grassland and sparse forests of Trudeau has proven ideal for the regiment’s hover units, and presents no real obstacle for the wheeled and tracked units. Only the mountainous Orange Mesas area poses any challenge, and this factor was instrumental in the regiment’s CO, Colonel Christof Perrin, agreeing to pick up the tab for the AirCav’s bills in exchange for that unit’s (theoretical) subordination to Col. Perrin’s command.
So back in 2004, I kitbashed myself a regiment. With the exception of 8 BattleDroids Hunters and 4 BattleDroids Pegasus, the rest are mainly balsa wood, modelling clay, and styrene.
I've got masses more about the Camlann Militia, but will reserve that all from the Minis forum. Down to infantry squads & individual trooper loadout. The conceit is that the (canon) planet Camlann (FWL version) has a non-canon Kali-Yama plant churning out LBX autocannons of all sizes.
I will just add a couple of photos of individual units -
The Buck (pune!), balsa body, details from clay, ear-cleaning buds, and styrene strip.
The Suppressor-X - a Buck skycrane fitted with an LB-20X
The ECP heavy tank & Penguyn medium tanks (the Penguyn all from balsa stock); the lower pictures are the assault versions ECP(A) and JagdPenguyn. Gotta love Soviet-style extra fuel tanks!
The Commander IFV, and
The F-4-10 Thunderchild conventional fighter.(Bombs are grains of basmati rice :) )
W.
