The 40th Marik Militia was formed in the wake of the formation of the Republic of the Sphere. The formation of the Republic in 3081 was recognised by houses Kurita, Davion and Steiner, but neither House Liao, or any of the fragments of the erstwhile Free Worlds League, acknowledged the Republic's claim to worlds in their territory.
The RAF's response - operation Golden Dawn - struck deep into these territories. The old Marik Commonwealth world of Stewart held out for months against Republic aggression, before being swamped by the RAF and their ill-favoured mercenary forces. The remainder of the Stewart Home Guard, plus some planetary militia forces, were repatriated to the remaining Commonwealth, where they formed the core of the 40th Marik Militia, whose colours had been in abeyance since the height of the 2nd Succession War.
To mark their shame at being defeated, and to show the seriousness of their intent to regain Stewart, the 40th paint the heads, upper torso, hands, and feet of their 'Mechs black, along with the traditional purple with red & blue trim of the Marik Militia.
The First Battalion specialises in frontal assault, with traditional League flexibility:
The Command Lance features the Battalion CO in an eminently durable Grand Titan 13M, supported by an Awesome 10KM, Albatross 4U, and Marauder 9M2.
The Striker lance can also serve as a Direct Fire lance at need: commanded from a Carronade 7M, supported by an Anzu G60, Thunderbolt 9M, and Ostsol 7M.
While the Recon lance is comprised of a Wolverine 9M, Shadow Hawk IIC 5, Cicada 3P, and Trebuchet 8B.
Second Company:
is made up from a Battle Platoon of Tokugawa SD2s, an Artillery platoon of Padilla Tube Artillery vehicles, and a Sweep Platoon of Yasha VTOLs.
Third Company has a platoon of Battle Armour - two squads of Achileus and a three of Longinus suits - carried in a pair of Minim heavy APCs (45-ton vehicles fulfilling much the same role as the Infantry version of the Maxim), a platoon of Jump Infantry and Heavy LRM infantry in a hover APC, and Missile Artillery mechanised infantry. During battle, the hover APC moves the leg infantry to where it can spot for the Padillas, the Arrow IV platoon stays with the Snipers as AA cover, while the BA squads are opportunists.
So, another box in the Grand Plan completed.
I chose the 40th because it looked interesting. My other Marik Militias are "grapes of wrath" - a purple like that I used on the hex edges - but I didn't think this was going to work with the black. So I stole an idea from Scotty, back when "A Call to War" was all the rage, who did a League unit which was black & purple - Trinity Worlds? - using a lavender base & black wash. So that's what I did. The metallic green cockpit glass is another 'borrowed' idea from folks on the forum, and I think worked well enough here.
The mods? Well, the 13M I had to do, for reasons some will understand ;) Most others were pretty minor. But the Anzu is whole piece; Dak hasn't finished a metal one for us, so I improvised on the base of a DA Crimson Hawk, with a DA Cougar's lower arms being the base for the arms. And my usual mix of repurposed DA vehicles & infantry.
So this'll be it for the year - may be time for another Battalion Retrospective? Either way, next project queued, including some hopefully amusing proxies.
Comments, brickbats, critiques all welcomed!
Cheers, and Happy New Year,
W.
