Cape Disappointment Rifles: Pride of Bastrop
circa 3050
Originally organized as a part of the Kilbourne Draconis March Militia, the Cape Disappointment Rifles (or more commonly just Cape Rifles) have stood apart from the typical march militia formation since their very inception. The formation owes its origin to the discovery in late 3023 of the submerged wreck of a dropship just offshore from the small town of Cape Disappointment on the world of Bastrop. Dating back to the early days of the Reunification War, the wreck's apparent connection to the famous Pitcairn Legion was enough on its own to bring the attention of the rest of the Federated Suns to the otherwise neglected backwater world. The ship's cargo quickly turned this casual interest into a frenzy.
Aboard the ancient vessel was more than a battalion of Rifleman battlemechs, still packed for shipping and reasonably intact despite four and a half centuries submerged in seawater. Though lighter weight 2N models long extinct elsewhere in the Inner Sphere, these machines still represented a potential windfall of tens of millions of cbills for whoever got ahold of them, and it wasn't long before the claims came pouring in from rival salvage groups, land owners, planetary districts, and even the Outworlds Alliance. Not long after that, mercenaries and outright pirates followed, brought in as muscle by one group or another to press their claims.
Seeing the deteriorating situation on Bastrop, the Federated Suns made the obvious decision of sending in elements of the Kilbourne DMM, backed up by the mercenary company Chasing Serenity, to keep the peace. Unfortunately, the locals, long resentful of New Avalon's neglect of the Outback worlds, assumed that the troops were being sent to claim the wreck for themselves. Within hours of the first federal troops landing, this resentment boiled over into open revolt in several of Bastrop's districts. It would take another five months and nearly three thousand lives for Federated Suns forces to quell the uprisings and finish disarming the belligerents.
With tempers still high in the fighting's aftermath, the Federated Suns found it necessary to raise a new combined arms formation to handle peacekeeping duty, drawing primarily from loyalists among the local population to fill out the unit. Perhaps fittingly, the core of this new unit would be a company of refurbished Riflemen pulled from the Cape Disappointment wreck.
On January 1st, 3025, the Cape Disappointment Rifles were formally declared active, and have been responsible for the defense of Bastrop and the surrounding worlds ever since. Once derisively known as "colabos" or "federals" by the populace, the Cape Rifles have done a remarkable job of winning the hearts and minds of the people they were raised to keep in check. Whether fending off pirates, providing disaster relief, or even assisting with public works to improve local infrastructure, the Cape Rifles have managed to present a friendly, helpful, and above all local face for the Federal government's rule over Bastrop. The situation is not perfect. In a way, the Cape Rifles may be the only face of the distant Federal government the residents of Bastrop will trust, but the Cape Rifles have managed to turn what was once a powder keg of resentment and anger into a stable, productive member of the Federated Suns.
As the regiment is listed on the roles as a detached element of the Kilbourne Draconis March Militia, the Cape Disappointment Rifles share the same unit colors and insignia as their parent formation. The only variation on this solid red scheme is a tricolor horizontal band on the left torso of battlemechs and left side of combat vehicles, mimicking the yellow, green, and blue of the planetary banner.
Officers
Though an able strategist, capable leader, and skilled administrator, Leftenant General Felicia Hameldon's primary job is to act as an intermediary between the local government of Bastrop and the Federated Suns as a whole. Though this gives her the de-facto status of planetary ruler under the feudal structure of the Federated Suns, General Hameldon is careful to limit her involvement in local affairs to planetary defense and acting as a mediator in the contentious local political system. For the most part, this hands off approach works well for all involved.
Support
Predominantly composed of infantry and low tech armor, the Cape Disappointment Rifles have little trouble meeting their support needs. Even their battlemech company remains well maintained, despite their heavy use of the currently unique RFL-2N Rifleman. When they were first assembled, the regiment was given exclusive use of the original cache of forty Rifleman battlemechs recovered from the Cape Disappointment wreck site (though they were organizationally limited to a single active mech company). Even with better than two decades of attrition, a considerable number of these mechs remain available for use. Though original parts are frequently in short supply, the regiment's support staff have made do by adapting readily available components from the Centurion battlemech.
Tactics
As a garrison formation, the Cape Rifles specialize in defensive operations. Their long history of aiding civil construction projects have served them well in establishing fortifications and defensive positions. Using battlemechs to transport heavy loads has also led the Cape Rifles to develop unique "Howda" containers that can be strapped to the back of a battlemech and transport a full platoon of infantry in relative safety (if not comfort).
Cape Disappointment Rifles
Combined Arms Regiment/Regular/Reliable
CO: Leftenant General Felicia Hameldon
XO: Komandant Mariya Markovic
The Cape Rifles are organized as a combined arms unit of two infantry battalions (one of them mechanized), a medium armor battalion, and a single battlemech company. The armored battalion is composed primarily of the ubiquitous Vedette tank, while the mech company still operates a considerable number of 2N model Riflemen, supplemented by other mediumweight workhorses such as the Centurion and Hatchetman. Finally, each infantry battalion is able to field an entire company's worth of trained combat engineers.
Game Rules
If acting as the defender in a scenario, up to a quarter of all Cape Rifle units may be deployed as hidden units. In addition, the player may place a number of fortified hexes (see Trench/Fieldwork engineers on page 341 of Tactical Operations) equal to the total number of Cape Rifle units in play. Finally, any Cape Rifle infantry units in play can start play dug into one of these fortified hex. If that unit is one of the player's hidden unit, then both the infantry unit and the fortified nature of the hex is hidden until the unit is revealed.
For games set during the clan invasion era, at least half of any mech forces fielded by the Cape Rifles player must be made up of RFL-2N model Riflemen (as detailed in Experimental Technical Readouts: Primitives IV). For battles set in earlier time periods, this should be increased, with seventy five percent of the force fielding Riflemen post War of 3039, and the entire unit using them before that.
In addition, the lack of original parts for the RFL-2N has forced the regiment's technical staff to improvise with parts from other mechs (primarily the Centurion). On tabletop, this only comes into affect when Design Quirks are in use. In such cases, a pristine 2N Rifleman possesses the Anti-Aircraft Targeting, Searchlight, and Obsolete design quirks, while a refitted model retains only the Searchlight quirk.
Finally, the Cape Rifles have devised an either ingenious or dangerously irresponsible means of infantry transport using their battlemechs. This takes the form of a four ton container strapped to the back of the battlemech called the "Howdah". This container is able to transport up to three tons of infantry and can sustain up to ten points of damage before being destroyed. If a mech carrying the Howdah is struck by weapons fire on any rear torso location, the Howdah takes the damage first, only applying damage to the mech once the Howdah is destroyed. If the Howdah is destroyed in transport, any infantry carried are likewise destroyed.
The Howdah can be deployed on the field in one of two ways. The first, "safer" way requires the carrying mech to drop prone and end its movement to release the Howdah, which results in the container being placed in the same hex as the mech in the end phase of the same turn. At that point, the Howdah is treated as an imobile target, and the infantry may move from the container on their next movement phase.
The second method involves the mech releasing the Howdah without dropping prone. Though this method is considerably quicker and safer for the battlemech, the Howdah and the personnel it carries inevitably suffers for the Mechwarrior's benefit. Though the mech is able to release the Howdah at any point in its movement and continue on unhindered, the Howdah itself sustains two damage from the fall, while its transported infantry suffers 1d6 casualties. Regardless, the Howdah is placed on the mapboard immediately during the movement phase, though the infantry may not move from the Howdah until the following round.
Unlike normal unprotected cargo, attaching a Howdah to a battlemech can only be done with the assistance of two other units. An infantry unit, and either a mech with functioning hand actuators (strong enough to lift four tons) or a lift hoist. The two supporting units must be sharing a hex, as well as being adjacent to the battlemech being loaded. It requires three turns to fully attach the Howdah to the battlemech, during which time none of the involved units may expend mobility points or make weapon attacks of any kind.
