FedSun's Reborn New Units

[Billy Boy Mark II]

1st Dragonlords RCT: Avalon's Silver Claws

The reborn 1st Dragonlords in 3062, which took place under the orders of First Prince Victor Davion, differed slightly from it's previous incarnation. While the previous Dragonlords Brigade had consisted of reinforced regiments of Battlemech's with an attached aerospace wing, the new and hopefully improved version would be formed on a Regimental Combat Team basis. However the RCT in question would differ from other such units within the AFFS. The unit would consist of a reinforced regiment of battlemechs, with an attached aerospace brigade of 3 aerospace fighter wings but where the previous 1st Dragonlords hadn't had attached conventional units the newly formed unit would. Added to the 4 battalions of mech's would be two reinforced armour regiments and 2 full battle armour regiments each consisting of a full 4 battalions and additional supporting forces such as artillery and engineers. At full strength the unit would consist of 156 battlemechs, 60 aerospace fighters, 312 tanks and over 2000 battle armour troopers along with a battalion of artillery, a battalion of VTOL gunships and another of engineers loosely grouped into a "1st Dragonlords Combat Auxillary" and attached to the armour brigade.

The idea was that these new formations would combine the very cutting edge of modern military technology in such a way as to provide maximum firepower for their size. The 1st Dragonlord's would be the template around which the rest of the brigade would later be formed and was partnered with the Davion Assault Guards RCT just as the previous unit had been. No less than 3 of it's 4 battalions would consist of assault weight battlemechs with the 4th designated as a cavalry unit with fast heavies and medium battlemechs. The armour regiments were to be patterned on a similar basis, with tanks like the Challenger X and Alacorn VI heavy tank being common. Whether in defence or in attack the 1st Dragonlords RCT was to be able to lay down a staggering weight of firepower and stand toe to toe with any and all comers and destroy them utterly. Relentless in advance and implacable while holding the line was the goal of those High Command staff officers designing it's TOE.

When the unit was formed up Colonel Susie Stokes, aide to Marshal Stephan Cooper, was offered a full promotion to Major General entirely skipping the rank of Leftenant General and command of the reborn 1st Dragonlords. She was allowed to hand pick a small staff of veteran Davion Guard officers and draw upon the wider AFFS to flesh her command team out and her pick of the graduating classes from every Academy and Training unit within the FedSuns to form her unit. She deliberately concentrated on getting her first pick of officer candidates and assembling them and only then did she begin working her way through the various records of the cadets who she would use to form her new unit. Every single mechwarrior for instance wasn't just chosen by his own Captain or Major, but each choice was agreed at every single stage of the process by the entire command staff right up the line to Major General Stokes. While as expected the graduates of Albion and NAIS dominated the new formation, a surprising number of candidates were drawn from more peripheral academies such as Point Barrow or Kilbourne. Major General Stokes was offered enough candidates to fill out her entire roster, however when she and her officers had finished their evaluations she had merely assembled enough troops to put a little over 2 battalions into the field. They had deliberately chosen quality over quantity and additionally wanted time to train and form established units to then flesh out and expand upon with a second wave of cadets in the following year. Her chosen armour and infantry officers did the same with their own commands and largely formed up a unit that hovered around 60% of it's full intended strength across the board, although the battle armour regiments were slightly higher than this drawing heavily from NAIS. The intention is that when the class of '63 graduates from the various Training Cadres and Battalions for the unit to be brought up to full strength. Many also suspect that in the fullness of time additional Dragonlord units will be reactivated.

With the core of her unit now formed the Major General led them onto the training fields of New Avalon and was soon engaged in a series of war games against the defending Davion Heavy Guards, New Avalon CrMM and elements of the 1st New Avalon Cavaliers. Between mock battles the unit underwent a series of training exercises that were more in line with a Cadre unit than a full combat command, yet Major General Stokes was relentless. Her new command would drill and drill again until it reached her high standards. When the 1st Dragonlord's were finally called into action they would uphold the glorious history of their Brigade and bring nothing but added honour to their historic regiment. The first training exercises were of course almost total disasters. A new unit, with new officers often promoted from their previous positions and with new equipment, facing formed and experienced units was bound to take a series of hard knocks. Which was the entire point. After a number of almost humiliating performances against even the New Avalon CrMM the unit's new members threw themselves into the training regime with a passion, desperate to not suffer another humiliating defeat. Over the course of 3063 the Dragonlords steadily improved until they began to prove a tough and challenging opponent for not only the New Avalon CrMM but even the Davion Heavy Guards. Although still listed as a green unit the Silver Claws were able to hold their heads up as they made even the Davion Heavy Guard's work for their victories while managing to pull of a few surprising victories of their own against the New Avalon CrMM.

Officers

Major General Susie Stokes had been a longstanding Davion Assault Guards officer and yet had taken the lessons of Marshal Stephan Cooper to heart when he took command of The Crushers. Having been shown that many of the limitations of an assault weighted regiment were largely in the heads of it's officers she was now determined to bring that same fresh outlook to the 1st Dragonlords from the start. Again and again she was able to move her forces with speed and elan more befitting a cavalry unit. In this she was particularly helped by her use of the 2nd Battalion, 1st Dragonlords Combat Auxiliary who's Yellow Jacket and Hawk Moth gunships gave her a lightning fast and hard hitting response unit to tie down enemy formations and allow her to deploy her heavier battlemechs.

In this she was helped by Leftenant Genearl Lisa Nicole Schon, formerly Colonel of the 3rd Federation Armoured Regiment of the Davion Assault Guards Armoured Brigade, who now commanded the 1st Dragonlords Armoured Brigade. Leftenant General Schon was an expert in the sort of hard hitting armoured warfare that was considered a perfect fit for the new unit. Her formation of armour rapidly became the anvil upon which the battlemech's of the 1st Dragonlords would hammer their opponents.

1st Dragonlords
Reinforced Regiment/Green/Fanatical
CO: Major General Susie Stokes
Aide: Colonel Nate Zibler
Aerospace Brigade: Rear Admiral Joshua Cullen
The first three battalions are all weighted as assault class units, with the 4th battalion listed as a cavalry force consisting of fast heavies and medium battlemechs. Almost all of the battlemech's are produced in the Federated Suns but are drawn from all over the realm, Templar-O's produced in the Capellan March standing side by side with Draconis March produced Sagitairre and Crucis March produced Marauder II and Longbows. Despite being under strength the core of each battalion had been formed.
The 1st Dragonlord's Aerospace Brigade consists of the 1st Dragonflight, 1st Dragonwings and 1st Dragonclaws Fighter Wings. At least a squadron of Dagger-O's would be present in each wing.

1st Dragonlords Armoured Brigade
3 Regiments/Green/Fanatical
CO: Leftenant General Lisa Nicole Schon
Aide: Colonel Xander Davids
1st Dragonlords Armoured Regiment
2nd Dragonlords Armoured Regiment
1st Dragonlords Combat Auxiliary
The 1st and 2nd Dragonlords AR are both filled with heavy and assault class vehicles and are each built around an entire battalion of Challenger X Main Battle Tanks. The 1st Dragonlords Combat Auxiliary consists of a collection of individual battalions grouped together for administrative purposes.

1st Dragonlords Battle Armoured Brigade
2 Regiments/Green/Fanatical
CO: Leftenant General Georgina Schmidt
Aide: Lt Colonel Fraser Peterson
1st Dragonlords Armoured Infantry Regiment
2nd Dragonlords Armoured Infantry Regiment
Each Battle Armoured Infantry Regiment consisted of 4 battalions, each consisting of 256 battle armoured troopers, along with a separate command company. This would give each unit on paper at least 1088 officers and men. Cavalier and Infiltrator II battle armour designs were present in every battalion and it was hoped to soon add a heavier battle armoured design to the units.

[Billy Boy Mark II]

Above is the unit profile I put together for the 1st Dragonlords RCT for my fan fiction timeline where the entire Davion High Command doesn't take stupid pills the morning Katherine Steiner-Davion tries to take over. The unit has been reformed in response to a growing Taurian threat along the periphery border.

[Dukeroyal]

Above is the unit profile I put together for the 1st Dragonlords RCT for my fan fiction timeline where the entire Davion High Command doesn't take stupid pills the morning Katherine Steiner-Davion tries to take over. The unit has been reformed in response to a growing Taurian threat along the periphery border.

A lot of factions took stupid pills unfortunately. Almost the whole storyline needs to be thrown out after about 3052 or so. I'm really enjoying your AU. One mistake with your unit here is that a Marshal commands an RCT, not a Major General.

[Billy Boy Mark II]

Unit Profile - 1st El Dorado Tercio

1st El Dorado Tercio: Golden Guard

Founded in May 3070 the 1st El Dorado Tercio was something of a trial unit. On paper the unit is to be formed as 3 full LCT's which are deliberately planned to be identical. Each of the LCT that make up the unit will consist of a company each of Templar-O's, Thanatos-O, Dervish-O and Javelin-O's. The armoured units assigned to the LCT's are also designed around omnivehicles as much as possible and again they are designed to be formed from entire battalions of the same design and to be identical to each other. This new table of equipment for the unit is the brainchild of Marshal of the Armies Jackson Davion. Based on the old SLDF idea of having entire units of the same battlemech and vehicles to ease supply problems, this new/old idea is to be tested out on the 1st El Dorado Tercio, if it is successful it will be rolled out into the rest of the AFFS as time, funds and material allows. In order to support this intent the finest technical staff and support force is assembled.

The plan also involves the 1st Tercio being effectively a formation that can either be deployed en-mass or instead broken into it's constituent elements and dispatched to hold or attack 3 worlds at a time. In some regards this is an emulation of the Ceti Hussar's formations who can be broken into 3 combat commands if need be, but without the full integration of these formations.

Most of the officers and troops of the new unit are El Dorado natives, with only a handful from other worlds being brought in for key specialist roles. When formed only 2 of the LCT's are actually formed with the 3rd effectively existing only on paper. The 1st LCT of the Tercio is drawn largely from the Sanromea-Davion Ducal Guard, a formerly battalion sized formation of mostly heavy and assault battlemechs, with some transfers in from the regular AFFS. While the 2nd LCT is drawn from the El Dorado Planetary Guard with again a handful of AFFS regulars for leavening. The most obvious example of this is Leftenant Melissa Sanromea-Davion who is assigned to the 2nd LCT's 1st company of the new unit for the time being from the Planetary Guard, at her father's own request with a brand new Templar-O for a ride.

Formed on their homeworld of El Dorado the "Golden Guards" immedietly begins training extensively with their new equipment and comrades. Particularly the members of the Planetary Guard but even those from the Ducal Guard saw a substantial upgrade to their equipment when they find their battlemech's replaced by omnimechs. Even the incredibly rich world of El Dorado and the Sanromea-Davion's who rule it were unable to equip their militia and household troops with omnimechs after all! Each LCT trains not only as an individual unit but also together. Plans are rushed forward that additional troops will be sourced from again the Planetary Guard and local training facilities and also the NAIS and New Albion Academy to form up the 3rd LCT as soon as possible. As soon as the 3rd LCT is formed up the plan is to transfer the unit to a world with a Combat Training Centre as a priority. For now the unit has no specific speciality but the intent from the officers of the unit and the High Command is to specialise in offensive operations - in particular using the flexibility of their omnimechs to overwhelm their opponents.

Officers

Although an incredibly junior officer Leftenant Melissa Sanromea-Davion is probably the most prominent officer in the unit. While she is considered an excellent mechwarrior who performs extremely well in almost every single combat simulation where she is fighting on her own, it is soon noticed that she seems to struggle to command any unit larger than a lance and in particular at personal interactions between herself and subordinates. Major General Vincent Rasmussen (recalled from retirement having previously commanded the 2nd Albion Training Cadre specifically due to his experience at training new units) takes a personal interest in her, knowing that she has a great deal of potential and given her connections is likely to be pushed for promotion, and begins working with her on both weaknesses.

1st El Dorado Tercio Command Battalion
Reinforced Battalion/Green/Reliable
CO: Major General Vincent Rasmussen
Aide: Colonel Keith Davids
Aerospace Brigade: Rear Admiral Georgina Hasek-Zibler
The Command Battalion consists of a full company of omnimech's supported by an armoured company and battle armoured company. Although not in the original plans 2 additional aerospace wings are attached directly to the Command Battalion, the first of which is equipped almost entirely with Dagger-O aerospace fighters and is trained as an interceptor unit while the second is designated as a bomber formation and equipped accordingly. These are designated the 1st El Dorado Interceptors and 1st El Dorado Bombers respectively.



1st El Dorado Tercio LCT
Light Combat Team/Green/Reliable
CO: Leftenant General Dave Sanromea
Formed around the former Davion-Sanromea Ducal Guard unit the core of the 1st El Dorado Tercio LCT consists of a mixture of locally trained troops and veterans of the AFFS who had taken up postings to the Ducal Guard. With the starting point of the former Ducal Guard troops the LCT is soon coming together as a force and integrating it's various sub-units effectively. The battle armour regiment's support staff is largely drawn from the various technical support personnel dispatched by the AFFS to help the new unit get set up. The 1st El Dorado Attack Wing forms the air support of the unit.


2nd El Dorado Tercio LCT
Light Combat Team/Green/Reliable
CO: Leftenant General Joe Zibler
The 2nd Tercio LCT is formed largely from units of the El Dorado Planetary Guard. While the rich world of El Dorado maintains a number of battlemech equipped units as well as sizeable armour formations within it's Planetary Guard the unit's technical staff are really struggling to cope with the upgrade to omnimechs and omnitanks. Similarly the technicians assigned to the unit from the militia are having real difficulties adjusting to the large formations of battle armour troopers assigned to the LCT. With the bulk of the AFFS support troops assigned to the 1st LCT the 2nd is having major technical difficulties, to the point that Major General Vincent Rasmussen has requested aid in this area from the technicians of the Davion-GM-Kallon Cooperative plant on El Dorado at least for the omnimechs and omnitanks of the unit so that the few trained technicians can concentrate on the battle armour and omnifighters maintenance needs. The 2nd El Dorado Attack Wing forms the air support of the unit.

3rd El Dorado Tercio LCT
Light Combat Team/Green/Reliable
CO: Leftenant General Ian Wright
While officially the 3rd LCT exists only on paper Duke Roger Davion-Sanromea has managed to acquire a battalion's worth of armoured vehicles and 2 battalions of battle armour forces for the still forming 3rd LCT. He has also bought the unit a full lance of Wayland Mobile Bases from his own pocket and as a result Major General Rasmussen is cycling a number of El Dorado Planetary Guard technicians through the 3rd before assigning them to the 2 operational LCT's. The armoured battalion in particular rarely uses their omnitank's flexibility and for the time being equips them primarily in an anti-aircraft role which is then used to train the attack wings of the other formations in ground attack. The 3rd El Dorado Attack Wing is an entirely paper force without a single officer, pilot, ground staff crew member or omnifighter currently assigned to it.

[Billy Boy Mark II]

A lot of factions took stupid pills unfortunately. Almost the whole storyline needs to be thrown out after about 3052 or so. I'm really enjoying your AU. One mistake with your unit here is that a Marshal commands an RCT, not a Major General.

A lot of the units in my timeline have had leftenant generals and major generals upgraded to marshals for the very same reason you've posted, but figure the new units might have a major general who will be promoted when the formation "earns their spurs" or he gets seniority.

[Billy Boy Mark II]

1st Sherwood Foresters LCT: The Jabberwocky's



Born from the patriotism of the Earl of Sherwood, Leftenant General Jonathan Tyler, the 1st Sherwood Foresters are drawn largely from the population of that rare thing: a long standing prosperous Outback world. While under the First Princes's investments within the Federated Sun's Outback region other worlds have been growing in economic prosperity, the world of Sherwood has stood out for centuries as one of the most economically developed worlds within the region. The Earl's of Sherwood have since their initial enoblement immedietly after the Periphery Uprising, that would lead to the Amaris Civil War and then the Succession Wars, been strong supporters of not only House Davion but also the AFFS. Leftenant General Tyler is no exception to this family tradition.



Returning from service with the Davion Light Guard's he made an impassioned speech before the Court of Elders for that body to support him in raising a new Regular Army formation from Sherwood for the AFFS. The initial support for the motion within the Court was a close run thing, but given the huge upsurge in pro-Davion and pro-FedSun's feeling within the wider Outback and on Sherwood in particular many Baron's found their constituents lobbying them hard to support the Earl's initiative. In the face of such widespread support within the general population a large majority of the initially sceptical Baron's threw their support behind the Earl's proposal. In many cases with even greater fervor than longstanding supporters of the project.



The core of the new unit was formed around a company of mechwarriors drawn from the Davion Light Guards. Including the Earl seven of these mechwarriors were originally from the world of Sherwood and had served alongside their feudal overlord through his rise through the ranks. The remaining five mechwarriors were also longstanding friends and comrades of Jonathan Tyler and all had agreed at his request to formally emigrate to the world of Sherwood following the formation of the unit - in many cases bringing their extended families with them. Around these twelve elite warriors the Earl built up a full reinforced battalion of battlemech pilots drawn from volunteers from the local Planetary Guard - Tyler's Terrors along with a strong selection of conventional forces. Indeed many of these militia soldiers were retired AFFS personnel who had returned home to Sherwood after honourably completing their tours of service and who upon hearing Tyler's call for volunteers answered the call. Sufficient volunteers were swiftly assembled over the three months after the call for the raising of the unit to fully form the battlemech elements of the unit. The two cavalry battalions and the VTOL battalion of the armour contingent of the were also likewise easily obtained from transfers from the militia, however Sherwood had few heavy and assault tanks or artillery. Similarly Sherwood lacked any battle armoured formations which could be relied upon to fill out the rolls or sufficient aerospace assets to form the attached fighter wing. At least initially the infantry contingent of the Sherwood Foresters was the 132nd Sherwood Jump Infantry Regiment - which would begin training in battle armour tactics in order to upgrade to the new standard. The aerospace fighter wing was a more difficult matter and eventually the 1st Sherwood Fighter Wing was formed from volunteers who agreed like the five mechwarriors from the Light Guards to emigrate.



Initially the plan had been for the 1st Sherwood Foresters to be raised and to garrison the world of Sherwood while integrating themselves into a fully functional Light Combat Team, however the initial call for volunteers was so successful that enough recruits were found not only to form the 1st Sherwood Foresters LCT but a cadre for a 2nd Sherwood Foresters LCT. As such the garrisoning of Sherwood was left to the 2nd Sherwood Foresters LCT while the senior formation moved to the world of Defiance to begin training there at the Combat Training Centre located on that world. This resulted in the 1st Sherwood Foresters LCT being one of the few units mustered into the AFFS to initially be given a rating of regular rather than green - no doubt helped by the elite troops of the Davion Light Guards who made up the core of the unit.



Unsurprisingly the new unit has taken upon the nickname of the old name for the Sherwood Militia. Although some had considered the newer "Tyler's Terrors" but that nickname would instead devolve to the 2nd Sherwood Foresters LCT.



Officers



The heart and soul of the new formation was undoubtedly the newly promoted Leftenant General Jonathan Tyler. An experienced mechwarrior and accomplished tactician he had risen through the ranks of the AFFS until finally assigned to the Davion Light Guards battlemech regiment. Serving in the Swift Foxes he had finally been promoted to Lt. Colonel and second in command of their battlemech regiment before he had returned home the following year to raise the 1st Sherwood Foresters. A longstanding Davion-patriot he had championed the cause of House Davion and the Federated Suns within the often forgotten Outback for years. First Prince Victor's investments within the region and the huge economic turn around these had resulted in had in his mind clearly vindicated his strong loyalty to not only House Davion but to the First Prince in particular. Many of those who had been called to the colours from within the Sherwood Planetary Guard and even from within the Davion Light Guards had done so largely based on his charismatic speeches during the raising of the unit. However any amongst the enemies of the Federated Suns who assumed he was nothing more than a noble who could give a good speech to the crowds would soon come to learn that he had risen to his rank within the Light Guards on a notable talent for mobile warfare.



Lt. Colonel Hanse Zibler was one of the five mechwarriors who had followed his former commander from the Light Guards to the Foresters. While lacking his superior's gift for politics and speeches, he was a consummate professional soldier and Tyler was confident enough in his abilities to give him total control of the training and integration of the LCT's battlemech forces.  Zibler swiftly merged the elite professional soldiers of the Light Guards with the more relaxed mechwarriors of Tyler's Terrors into a cohesive whole that excelled light cavalry tactics.



1st Sherwood Foresters

Reinforced Battalion/Regular/Fanatical

CO: Leftenant General Jonathan Tyler

Aide: Lt Colonel Hanse Tyler

Aerospace Wing: Major Felicia Lusignan



The reinforced battalion of the Sherwood Foresters consists of three light companies (with a full company of Javelin-O's split amongst them) and a single company of fast medium designs - built largely around a mix of Phoenix Hawks and Legionnaire class battlemechs. Unusually for a new unit, particularly one drawn from the Outback, the unit is almost entirely consisting of new battlemechs.

The 1st Sherwood Fighter Wing is the only unit within the LCT that is entirely non-Sherwood born, although all members have officially emigrated to the world. It's aerospace fighter's are a single flight of Dagger-O's and the rest are all either Sabres or Sparrowhawks.



1st Sherwood Armoured Regiment

Reinforced Regiment/Green/Reliable

CO: Colonel John Little

The unfortunate name of the CO of the armoured contingent of the Sherwood Foresters has led to a number of jokes at the unit's expense. Perhaps as a result of these the various armoured battalions that make up the unit are working hard to improve their skill level. Their driving still leaves something to be desired - with the exception of the VTOL contingent - but their gunnery levels are already improving rapidly. Much of the light armour of the unit consists of the Musketeer Hover Tank, while Yellow Jacket gunships are the preferred VTOL of the battalion of air cavalry. One deviation from the standard LCT format is the inclusion within the unit of a company of Jabberwocky Engineering industrial mechs, forming a small engineering contingent. While administratively these are a part of the Armoured Regiment they often act more as a 5th company for the Battlemech Battalion.



132nd Sherwood Jump Infantry

Regiment/Green/Reliable

CO: Colonel Robert Tyler

The 132nd Jump Infantry despite it's name and initial equipment is in the process of converting over to a standard AFFS battle armour regiment. Under the command of one of the Earl's many distant cousins the unit is already developing a preference for the Infiltrator II battle armour and is experimenting with HALO drops as well as warfare within forest or jungle settings.

[Dukeroyal]

A lot of the units in my timeline have had leftenant generals and major generals upgraded to marshals for the very same reason you've posted, but figure the new units might have a major general who will be promoted when the formation "earns their spurs" or he gets seniority.

That makes sense.

[Billy Boy Mark II]

1st Sheraton Knights: The Faithful

Formed from a former militia unit that stayed loyal to House Davion even as their world fell into civil war, the 1st Sheraton Knights are resolute on two issues: firstly the defence of their homeworld. Never again do they wish to see their world engulfed into anything even approaching the turmoil of the so called "Chaos March". It is that determination which fuels their loyalty to House Davion. Having seen the lawlessness and civil war that lack of strong leadership can bring they are firm in the few that only loyalty to a strong and just lord can avoid this happening again. To every member of the Knights, Victor Davion is that lord. Each member of the Knights from the commanding Leftenant General to the most green astech takes a personal oath of loyalty upon their induction into the Sheraton Knights to the First Prince of the Federated Suns.

There are some who have pointed out the contradiction of the Knights position regarding the First Prince, after all it was then Victor Steiner-Davion's actions which had led to the invasion of the Sarna March and the formation of the "Chaos March". Yet the Sheraton Knights always maintain that had the various troops and leaders of the Federated Commonwealth remained loyal to then Archon Prince and rallied to his call to arms then the invasion by the Free Worlds League and Capellan Confederation would have been thrown back and the situation saved. They accept the criticism of Victor Davion's actions during the lead up to Operation Guerrero but take the view that it was the subsequent actions of those who should have been loyal to the Archon Prince that led to the total disaster and collapse of the Sarna March.

The 1st Sheraton Knights remain almost unique within the entire Inner Sphere in that it is not their battlemech forces which make up the core of the unit. Instead pride of place within the formation goes to the 1st Armoured Knights, their tank regiment. The 1st Armoured Knights were formed and created from the surviving members of the militia tank regiment that continued the war for the House Davion and Sheraton for four long years and even the usual arrogance of the units mechwarriors pales before this fact. While the regiment of battlemechs is the single most powerful unit within the Knights it is the Armoured Knights who make up the heart and soul of the Sheraton Knights.

By contrast the 1st Sheraton Men-at-Arms infantry regiment and the two wings that comprise the 1st Sheraton Sky Knights are generally considered support units for the battlemech and armour formations. Somewhat to the irritation of the Sky Knights at least.

Still whatever disagreements the various components might have when off duty and grumbling amongst themselves nobody can fault the professionalism and unity the command shows when engaged in the field. Far from being the defensive formation that many considered them to be when First Prince Davion formed them in 3062 the Knights have proven to be a valuable and hard hitting front line combat formation. With two of their three battlemech battalions consisting of predominantly heavy class designs and with a similar heavy/assault role in the Armoured Knights the unit has deployed from Sheraton and taken part in offensive operations against both the Capellan Confederation and the Draconis Combine, serving alongside such famed units as the 4th Davion Guards RCT and the 33rd Avalon Hussars RCT as well as conducting combat operations in on their own as an independent command. Far from the "jumped up militia" that some considered them the 1st Sheraton Knights are now a well respected and regarded front line combat formation.

Although not currently engaged in active combat during Operation Harvest against the WOB few doubt that if the need arose that the Knight's would gladly answer the call and head for the front. However after suffering losses during their previous battles it was felt they would be better utilised as a reserve unit that could be summoned forward if required. This has allowed them to rebuild their strength slowly from both academy graduates and from the LCT style 1st Sheraton Reinforced Training Battalion - which if Sheraton is attacked is ordered to fold itself into the 1st Sheraton Knights as their fourth battalion and additional support forces for the duration of the battle.

Officers

Leftenant General Toby Knight is everything a Knight could (and indeed should) aspire to be as far as his command is concerned. A bluff tanker, he commands the unit from the turret of his Fury class command tank. Absolutely loyal to his unit, his world and his prince, Leftenant General Knight has proven an adaptable command officer. While during the "dark years" between '57 and '61 then Colonel Knight mastered hit and run tactics that were well suited to a unit which was always struggling to maintain itself in the face of constant threats, since the reintegration of Sheraton into the Federated Suns and the formation of the new 1st Sheraton Knights the promoted officer has proven an adept hand at adjusting his tactics to the situation and terrain he finds himself fighting on. If there is a single weakness within the Knights it is their absolute dedication to their commanding officer, a point which the Leftenant General is aware of and which has prevented him taking "unnecessary risks" in case his tank is damaged and his unit rushes to his aid. A fact that causes him no small amount of irritation.

Colonel Emma Silver, the commanding officer of the battlemech regiment of the Sheraton Knights, is a rarity within the unit: a non-native of Sheraton. Seconded to the unit by the AFFS to help them in integrating a battlemech level formation into their existing armour tactics she swiftly fell in love with her new home on Sheraton and found a home within the Knights. She has been accepted almost totally into the unit (her marrying a local rancher on Sheraton accelerated this acceptance) and she is widely considered the successor of Leftenant General Knight when he chooses to retire by most of the unit. The only area in which she is still considered an outsider by some is that she did not serve with the unit during their years of guerrilla style warfare and a  handful of the older members particularly within the Armoured Knights consider that without that knowledge she can never fully understand them. If she is indeed promoted to command the Knights it may bring this tension to a head given the Armoured Knights position within the formation and their preference for an armour officer to maintain the traditions of the Knights. The old guard within the Armoured Knights prefer Lt Colonel Greg Knight, the General's nephew, to take command of the Knights upon the older man's retirement.

1st Sheraton Knights
Regiment/Veteran/Fanatical
CO: Colonel Emma Silver
Aerospace Brigade: Commander Hugo Vernon
The first and second battalions of the Knights consist of mostly heavy weighted machines, with a single assault company in the second battalion. The third battalion forms the cavalry and scouting element of the unit and consists of two companies of medium battlemechs and a single company of light battlemechs - almost all jump capable. A gradual upgrade program is currently underway and roughly two companies of omnimechs have been assigned to the unit.
The 1st Sheraton Sky Knights consists of the 1st and 2nd Sheraton Interceptor Wings. Almost all of the aerospace fighters flown by the Sky Knights are Stuka, Corsair or Sparrowhawk class fighters and all of them are brand new.

1st Armoured Knights
Regiment/Elite/Fanatical
CO: Leftenant General Toby Knight
Aide: Lt. Colonel Greg Knight
Similar to the battlemech regiment the Armoured Knights consist of two heavy/assault battalions and a single cavalry battalion of medium and light vehicles. General Knight has recently begun to petition to form a fourth battalion consist of VTOL gunships to give his unit some added flexibility following their campaigns during the Kurita War. As befitting their status as the core of the unit the Armoured Knights are equipped with some of the best tanks and armoured vehicles that the Federated Sun's can produce and the unit recently took receipt of a company of Ajax-O omnitanks.

1st Sheraton Men-at-Arms
Regiment/Veteran/Fanatical
CO: Lt. Colonel Chris Davidson
At the present time the Sheraton Men-at-Arms consists of two mechanised battalions of infantry and a single jump infantry battalion. A small force of a single battle armoured company is permanently attached to the 1st Jump Knights, but Lt. Colonel Davidson with the full support of General Knight is pushing for this battle armour contingent to be expanded to a full battalion.

[David CGB]

All are great additions to the AFFS, thanks