Taking a stand

[Colt Ward]

Thermopylae, the Alamo, Stalingrad, Wake Island, Bastogne . . . all are places known for the defenders taking a stand which holds back a rolling and successful offensive for a time.  A desperate tactical action that has a impact on the over all war.

We have some of these in BT, the most famous of course being the grinder on Tukayyid though due to the nature of the bidding among the Clans its not quite the same were placed to block an enemy's advance.

What are some other lesser known defensive stands that had a impact out of proportion to the number of defenders involved?

[Doom]

Kai versus the Falcon Guards on Twycross comes to mind, although it's not quite 'lesser-known'.

Ian Davion taking the rear guard position against the Sword of Light, and only falling to Yorinaga, also comes to mind.

The Dragoons against the Combine on Misery and throughout the Fourth Succession War changed the course of that conflict by inflicting damage far out of proportion to their numbers against the Dragon.

The Gray Death Legion against the Falcons on Pandora.

[Church14]

Royal Black Watch?

Aiden Pryde

[Frabby]

GDL holding out against the 12th Atrean Dragoons on Helm just long enough to copy the memory core (and incidentally, to clear their name).
That one stand seriously altered history.

[Daryk]

*snip*
The Dragoons against the Combine on Misery and throughout the Fourth Succession War changed the course of that conflict by inflicting damage far out of proportion to their numbers against the Dragon.
*snip*

Crossing is the epitome of that...

[Sartris]

GDL holding out against the 12th Atrean Dragoons on Helm just long enough to copy the memory core (and incidentally, to clear their name).
That one stand seriously altered history.

Speaking of redirecting history, Ian Davion buying the farm while acting as a one man wall on Mallory’s World set a few things in motion

[Doom]

Speaking of redirecting history, Ian Davion buying the farm while acting as a one man wall on Mallory’s World set a few things in motion

That kind of sounds familiar. Now where might I have heard that before...

Ian Davion taking the rear guard position against the Sword of Light, and only falling to Yorinaga, also comes to mind.

[Sartris]

bold of you to assume i can read

[Doom]

It would seem to be self-evident, given you would have had to do so in order to make that reply.  :)

[Sartris]

I’m actually a carefully constructed algorithm built from actual dialogues between fools, clowns, al bundy sound boards and congressional hearings

[massey]

Morgan Kell

[Onion2112]

1st Chisholm’s Raiders RCT on Deshler in the 4SW - they faced off against 2 DCMS mech commands (I think) with about 20 supporting Regts and held up the DCMS invasion timetable

Another is the 42nd Avalon Hussars LCT on Helen in the dark age against 2 DCMS ghost Regts

Real life ones (and as an Australian)  I think the Defense of Tobruk (by mostly Commonwealth troops) against the (at that stage) unbeaten Afrika Korps and Italian Army deserves a mention.

Then again as something rarely mentioned was the WW2 last stand in Timor by Sparrow Force (principally it’s Commando Company)  - which held up around 12,000 Japanese for 12 months (42-43)

[William J. Pennington]

Hanse Davion at the NAIS versus fake Death Commandos. Morgan Kell taunting the Clans. Aidan Pryde versus Comguard.

Kai Allard Liao versus Teal Turkeys disqualified for being a giant trap, not a stand.

[Sharkapult]

WoR: Wolves defending Kerensky's genes comes to mind.

[RanFelsnerAFFS]

First Battle of Tikonov in the Second Succession War comes to mind

[Ogra_Chief]

Crossing is the epitome of that...

Yes, there was my opinion of the Dragoons before the Wolf Dragoon's sourcebook, then after. Great story.

Hanse Davion at the NAIS versus fake Death Commandos. Morgan Kell taunting the Clans. Aidan Pryde versus Comguard.

Kai Allard Liao versus Teal Turkeys disqualified for being a giant trap, not a stand.

Hanse Davion and the walking wounded of Team Banzai at NAIS; as well as the unheralded security detail holding in the complex below against the 'darkness of ignorance' that was ComStar. Probably its' greatest defeat, allowing for the emergence of a knowledge and technological renaissance.


Everyone has already mentioned my would be contributions. Does the Baron of Von Strang against the Clans count?

[Natasha Kerensky]

A lot of the Umpteenth Battles of Hesperus probably qualify.

[Colt Ward]

Real life ones (and as an Australian)  I think the Defense of Tobruk (by mostly Commonwealth troops) against the (at that stage) unbeaten Afrika Korps and Italian Army deserves a mention.

Thanks for mentioning this, I could not even search it b/c I kept thinking of Gallipoli which was the wrong war.

Might have to put a poll together from the answers given just to see what folks think.  Thanks for the 2SW mention, sort of what I was looking for in the throw away lines of original TRO3025 fluff.

[RanFelsnerAFFS]

The 2SW Tikonov mention is something i will never forget from the old House Davion book , due to the fact that the unsuccesful General AFFS Greer was "rewarded" with KP duty on New Syrtis for his performance

[Daryk]

*snip*
Real life ones (and as an Australian)  I think the Defense of Tobruk (by mostly Commonwealth troops) against the (at that stage) unbeaten Afrika Korps and Italian Army deserves a mention.
*snip*

If real life battles on are on the table, Long Tan has GOT to be there...

[Bosefius]

Pretty much every GDL battle but especially Helm and the battle of Glengarry in "Day of Heroes". As others have stated, Wolf's Dragoons vs House Kurita in the 4th War, the essentially held the entire Davion border alone, front Davion troops to attack the CapCon. Specifically the final battle on Crossing, when barely a regiment of Dragoons, reinforced by a Davion unit, hold against 4+ regiments of House Kurita forces, forcing them off planet when Zeta Battalion arrived to save the Dragoons. As an article in "Battletechnology" put it, decimated is when you lose 1 in 10 of your soldiers, what do you call it when you lose nearly 9 in 10?

[Daryk]

Personally, I'd call that "annihilated"...

[Bosefius]

Personally, I'd call that "annihilated"...

Agreed. I really enjoyed how Battletechnology would try to the into the major happenings, the article about the Dragoons was one example.

[Vandervecken]

Nobody's mentioned Luthien 3052 yet?

[Ogra_Chief]

Nobody's mentioned Luthien 3052 yet?

Probably qualifies given the stakes, but when you have half-a-dozen Elite to Super-Elite formations and a good chunk of a Clan Touman running around... Just feels more like an all-star game then a one-and-done face-off. Or, maybe that's just me.

[Bosefius]

Probably qualifies given the stakes, but when you have half-a-dozen Elite to Super-Elite formations and a good chunk of a Clan Touman running around... Just feels more like an all-star game then a one-and-done face-off. Or, maybe that's just me.

I'm fairly certain that the Inner Sphere had superior numbers in that fight, though I'd have to pull out the book again to verify that. Definitely doesn't fit, imho.

[MoneyLovinOgre4Hire]

Prior to the Great Refusal, I don't think there was a single major battle against the Clans where the Inner Sphere won and didn't have superior forces.

[RanFelsnerAFFS]

What are some other lesser known defensive stands that had a impact out of proportion to the number of defenders involved?

I think, while still great Battles most of the examples tossed around here are not of the "lesser known" type. You guys have been listing mainly confrontations we have seen laid out in detail in the spine novels.

As Colt mentioned, I think there are a lot more fights only mentioned in one sentence throughout all of the books. Those examples would be nice to see as honorable mentions here ;)

[AldanFerrox]

Kai Allard-Liao's last stand against the Death Commandos during the Capellan Crusaders in 3113. He cut down his enemies left and right before a lucky missile hit to the head of his mech killed him.

[Mendrugo]

Suicide nuke run by Skye militia in hydrofoils.  Took out a major dam and drowned the Combine invasion force, preventing the DCMS from reaching the planetary capital.