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Davion Heir (BattleTech CYOA)
Chapter 13[]
Comstar Analysis of the Confederation Invasion[]
Hilton Head, Terra
Sol System, ComStar
1st December, 3014
For the eyes of the Primus and First Circuit only.
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Tikonov
Attackers: 1st Davion Guards RCT, 3rd Davion Guards RCT, Davion Heavy Guards RCT, 4th Deneb Light Cavalry RCT, 5th Deneb Light Cavalry RCT, 8th Deneb Light Cavalry RCT, Kell Hounds, Eridani Light Horse, Lexington Combat Group
Defenders: 2nd Ariana Fusiliers (1st & 2nd Battalions), Ariana Grenadiers, 1st Chesterton Voltigeurs, 2nd Chesterton Voltigeurs, 3rd Chesterton Voltigeurs, Hamilton’s Highlanders, Kerr’s Intruders (1st & 2nd Battalions), Lothar’s Fusiliers (3rd Battalion), MacGregor’s Armoured Scouts, Warrior House Hiritsu, 4th Tau Ceti Rangers (1st Battalion)
Outcome: The invasion of Tikonov was personally led by First Prince Victoria Davion and was an undeniable success. While the world might have held if the New Hessen Irregulars and 1st Ariana Fusiliers had arrived in time, their delayed arrival meant that the CCAF was deprived of three BattleMech regiments in its defence of the regional capital. The successful invasion of the world has seen the CCAF lose multiple regiments’ worth of BattleMechs and House Liao’s largest BattleMech production facilities, all of which would have been a crippling blow on its own.
The AFFS has taken modest, but recoverable losses. The 8th Deneb Cavalry and 32nd Recon Regiment are effectively untouched while the 1st Davion Guards and Kell Hounds took light losses. The other Davion Guard RCTs took modest losses in comparison while the 4th and 5th Deneb Light Cavalry were each left down a battalion. The 21st Striker Regiment and Goida’s Golden Hammers also lost a battalion’s worth of forces and the 71st Light Horse Regiment was close to joining them. The 151st Light Horse Regiment and Timothy’s Gazelles were the worst of all with both regiments being reduced to a reinforced battalion.
While Davion losses were heavy, they look light in comparison to what the CCAF sustained. Of the forces who escaped to the DropShips and made it off-world, they consisted of only four companies from 2nd Ariana Fusiliers, another four companies of the 1st Chesterton Voltigeurs, the majority of the Ariana Grenadiers, a company of 4th Tau Ceti Rangers, two companies from MacGregor’s Armoured Scouts, a BattleMech demi-company from Warrior House Hiritsu, an understrength battalion of Kerr’s Intruders, a company from Hamilton’s Highlanders and a demi-company from Lother’s Fusiliers. All of which amounted to barely two regiments worth escaping Tikonov from the original defending force that equaled seven regiments.
A battalion from the 2nd Chesterton Voltigeurs and a company from the 3rd Chesterton Voltigeurs surrendered to the AFFS along with thirty MechWarriors from Hamilton’s Highlanders and a company from MacGregor’s Armoured Scouts. Any unaccounted CCAF forces were either defeated or deserted.
Ares
Attackers: 4th Davion Guards RCT, 5th Crucis Lancers RCT, Blue Star Irregulars, Swann’s Cavaliers
Defenders: Hurloc’s Hussars, Kamakura’s Hussars (1st Battalion), Kingston’s Legionnaires
Outcome: Despite the lesser forces involved and the fact that Ares only produces a couple companies of Bug ‘Mechs annually, it has arguably been a greater defeat for the CCAF than Tikonov. Of the defenders, only a single company from Hurloc’s Hussars and another company from Kamakura’s Hussars successfully retreated from the world. Two companies of Kingston’s Legionnaires surrendered whilst the remaining CCAF forces were simply destroyed when the AFFS overwhelmed them in a series of swift and brutally intense battles.
On the AFFS’s side, they have taken some light losses amongst the 4th Davion Guards, two regiments of the Blue Star Irregulars and Swann’s Cavaliers. Said losses didn’t equal a regiment’s worth of BattleMechs when added up while the CCAF lost two regiments in comparison. Furthermore, Ares doesn’t just produce Locusts and Stingers, but also DropShips, including Overlords and Unions, and a variety of heavy tanks that are already favoured and used by the AFFS.
Grand Base
Attackers: Davion Assault Guards RCT, 5th Sytris Fusiliers RCT, 6th Syrtis Fusiliers RCT, 8th Syrtis Fusiliers RCT, 12th Vegan Rangers
Defenders: Warrior House Fujita, McCarron’s Armoured Cavalry, Marshigama’s Legionnaires, Ambermarle’s Highlanders
Outcome: The attack on Grand Base was led by Duke Michael Hasek-Davion and was a fiasco for the CCAF where the effects of the Battle of Wright from earlier in the year still lingered. While House Fujita had recovered from its light losses months earlier, McCarron’s Armoured Cavalry could only muster up half of its usual strength even though it had been hardened in skill by the Battle of Wright. Reinforcements from nearby systems in response to the impending AFFS invasion only amounted to a reinforced battalion compared to the eight BattleMech regiments that Duke Hasek-Davion was leading.
The Davion forces only lost a few BattleMechs across each regiment with the exception of the 6th Syrtis Fusiliers where Duke Hasek-Davion’s desire for glory led to them leading the charge and suffering heavier if still moderate losses. On the Capellan side, the Ambermarle’s Highlanders decided to defect to House Davion rather than fight the AFFS invasion force while the Marshigama’s Legionnaires were wiped out. House Fujita escaped off-world with a company of ‘Mechs and its infantry battalion while McCarron’s Armoured Cavalry escaped with close to two regiments after doing the minimum to fight the AFFS forces.
While the survival of McCarron’s Armoured Cavalry could be taken as beneficial for the Confederation, Colonel Archibald McCarron seems to be breaking ties with House Liao. The Big MAC avoided committing to battles on Grand Base, which led to the capture of Colonel Pavel Ridzik when support from McCarron failing to materialise led to the Chancellor’s trusted subordinate fighting a last stand against the 12th Vegan Rangers, where Colonel Ridzik took down almost a dozen Davion BattleMechs before ejecting. Furthermore, McCarron has headed towards Menke upon leaving Grand Base rather than withdrawing further into the Confederation like Warrior House Fujita.
Texlos
Attackers: 15th Deneb Light Cavalry, 1st Federated Suns Armoured Cavalry, 12th Star Guards, Wylie’s Coyotes
Defenders: Shepard’s Mounted Fusiliers, Stapleton’s Iron Hand, 2nd St. Ives Lancers (2nd Battalion), St. Ives Cheveau Legers
Outcome: For a world whose only strategic value is its production of the Lightning Aerospace Fighter and its manpower pool for the St. Ives regiments, a massive battle was fought on Texlos as the CCAF units in the area consolidated on the world in an attempt to repel the AFFS invasion.
Despite being outnumbered over two to one, the defending Capellan forces were able to inflict almost one to one losses upon the invaders. The 12th Star Guards were hit particularly hard as the mercenary formation suffered almost fifty percent losses with only its 7th Regiment remaining above half strength by the end of the invasion. Wylie’s Coyotes and the 15th Deneb Light Cavalry also suffered heavy losses with both regiments losing a battalion. Only the 1st Federated Suns Armoured Cavalry was spared and that can be attributed to a misjump delaying their arrival until the battle was effectively won.
While they ultimately lost, the CCAF did a good job of withdrawing from Texlos compared to other worlds. Shepard’s Mounted Fusiliers got four companies off-world, the 2nd St. Ives Lancers lost only half a dozen ‘Mechs and the St. Ives Cheveau Legers escaped with a battalion in fighting shape. Unfortunately for House Liao, Stapleton’s Iron Hand fought to the last with the survivors covering the retreat of the other CCAF units.
Necromo
Attackers: 2nd Chrisholm’s Raiders
Defenders: Trimaldi’s Secutors (2nd Battalion)
Outcome: The invasion of Necromo was an entirely predictable victory for the AFFS. While a battalion of the Trimaldi’s Secutors had been brought over from the League border to make up for the reassignment of the battalion from McCarron’s Armoured Cavalry, they were no match for the 2nd Chrisholm’s Raiders. When the first two companies were lost without downing any Davion BattleMechs, the final company of the Secutors made the wise decision to flee the planet rather than fight a doomed battle.
The only saving grace for House Liao’s future is that Necromo only repairs DropShips and doesn’t build them or anything else.
St. Ives
Attackers: 6th Crucis Lancers RCT, 7th Crucis Lancers RCT, Fighting Urakahi, Crater-Cobras, Screaming Eagles
Defenders: 1st St. Ives Lancers, 2nd St. Ives Lancers (1st Battalion), Blackwind Lancers (2nd & 3rd Battalions) Devon’s Armoured Battalion
Outcome: While it was still ultimately a defeat, the invasion of St. Ives is the closest that the CCAF has come to a victory. Under the command of Tormano Liao, heir apparent, the Liao forces leveraged the local terrain to their advantage to inflict five kills for every one taken.
While the Screaming Eagles and 7th Crucis Lancers took light losses, the 6th Crucis Lancers lost an entire battalion of BattleMechs as did the 8th Striker Regiment while Candelli’s Bar Hounds and Jackson’s Sluggers lost a battalion between them. The AFFS units to suffer the worst would be the Crater Cobras, whose both regiments were reduced to under half-strength thanks to Capellan ambushes.
In exchange, the St. Ives Lancers lost only one of their four battalions while Devon’s Armoured Cavalry lost only two companies and the Blackwind Lancers only lost a couple of lances. Unfortunately for the Confederation’s fortunes, Tormano Liao was killed in battle whilst leading the 1st St. Ives Lancers and not long after his death, his replacement made the call to retreat from the Commonality capital when the situation became untenable due to how much ground had been given and the sheer numbers of the AFFS invasion force.
Epsilon Eridani
Attackers: 12th Deneb Light Cavalry
Defenders: 3rd Confederation Reserve Cavalry (3rd Battalion), Lothar’s Fusiliers (1st Battalion)
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Colossus Class Combine Arms Carrier DropShip
Outcome: Epsilon Eridani was targeted for the Brutus Assault Tank, a decent heavy tank that the CCAF prefers to delegate to militia duties. With only two battalions to stand against an entire regiment, it was unlikely for the CCAF to win, but its defeat was unexpectedly harsh. While the Deneb Light Cavalry lost a couple of companies, the Confederation Reserve Cavalry was wiped out to the last man while the Lothar’s Fusiliers surrendered after losing half their BattleMechs and their DropShips were captured alongside those of the Reserve Cavalry.
Of further note, a Star League Era depot was discovered by the 12th Deneb Light Cavalry in the Shamus Mountains. The primary find of note was an intact and functional Colossus DropShip, which was found fully loaded with Royal-grade war machines. Intercepted communications indicate that rather than deploy the finds amongst the AFFS, the First Prince intends to strip the DropShip, BattleMechs and tanks of their LosTech so that the budding NAIS can attempt to reverse engineer them.
Sian
Attackers: 3rd Free Worlds Guard, 10th Marik Militia, 2nd Brigade Fusiliers of Oriente, 5th Orloff Grenadiers, 1st Regular Hussars, Wolf’s Dragoons
Defenders: Red Lancers, Protectorate Guard, Warrior House Imarra, Warrior House Matsukai, 4th Tau Ceti Rangers (2nd Battalion), New Hessen Armoured Scouts, Lockhardt’s Ironsides
Outcome: The loss of Sian is very easily the largest blow to the Capellan Confederation and House Liao in addition to being the first time that a Successor State’s capital has fallen in all three Succession Wars. To the surprise of many, no nuclear weapons were deployed in the fall of Sian though intercepted transmissions indicated that it is due to an unwillingness or inability to carry out orders to deploy them rather than those orders not being given.
The CCAF took heavy losses with two thirds of the defending forces being lost. The Lockhardt’s Ironsides defected early in the battle, deciding to hedge their bets on the FWLM invasion succeeding than on House Liao’s ability to hold its own capital. The New Hessen Armoured Scouts lost a battalion and then some while the 4th Tau Ceti Rangers lost a company before withdrawing after receiving news of the Chancellor’s suicide.
The Warrior Houses fought valiantly, but ultimately withdrew after losing half of their forces or more. The Protectorate Guard was reduced to a single battalion before they boarded their DropShips while the Red Lancers could barely muster up two dozen BattleMechs before they admitted defeat upon the fall of the Forbidden City and the Chancellor’s death.
While it had the numbers to shrug them off, the assembled FWLM invasion force took heavier losses than the defending CCAF. Of the Wolf’s Dragoons’, Beta and Gamma Regiments retained the same luck from the Battle of Wright as they both lost a battalion with Epsilon Regiment joining them as they lost enough BattleMechs to fill out a reinforced battalion. The Free Worlds Guard had around a dozen BattleMechs disabled or destroyed by the 4th Tau Ceti Rangers while the Marik Militia were brutalized by the Red Lancers and could muster up barely more than a battalion when the fighting was over.
The provincial forces had equally mixed luck with the Fusiliers of Oriente receiving minimal losses whilst the Grenadiers lost almost two battalions. The Regular Hussars were somewhere between the two with slightly over two companies falling in battle.
Once again, the fall of Sian is arguably the biggest shift in power as the capital of a Successor State has been conquered for the first time in the Succession Wars. The location of the new capital is unknown, but it is most likely going to be Capella given the world’s political importance to the Confederation is second only to Sian.
Styk
Attackers: 1st Free Worlds Guard, 2nd Free Worlds Guards, 3rd Marik Militia, 18th Marik Militia, Ducal Guard, 1st Brigade Fusilier of Oriente, Home Guard, 6th Orloff Grenadiers, 4th Oriente Hussars, 21st Centauri Lancers
Defenders: 4th Confederation Reserve Cavalry (3rd Battalion), Freemont’s Cuirassiers, McCrimmon’s Light Cavalry (1st & 3rd Battalions), 2nd Confederation Reserve Cavalry, 2nd Ariana Fusiliers (3rd Battalion), Blackwind Lancers (1st Battalion), Justinia’s Cuirassiers, Cochraine’s Goliaths, Sung Cuirassiers
Outcome: The invasion of Styk has proven to be a bloody affair as the CCAF fought hard to protect one of their major BattleMech production sites with both sides losing a few regiments’ worth of BattleMechs. Ultimately, the weight of numbers by the FWLM and a lack of reinforcements from the rest of the CCAF consigned Styk’s fate.
Amongst the League forces, the 1st Brigade, 4th Oriente Hussars, and 18th Marik Militia were hit the hardest with all three formations being reduced to a single battalion and for the last of those, it can be contributed to the disloyal veterans of the Marik Militia being replaced with loyal, but inexperienced recruits. The 2nd Free Worlds Guard lost an entire battalion while the remaining Marik units all suffered light losses in the double-digits.
While the FWLM suffered heavy losses, so did the CCAF. Sung’s Cuirassiers were completely wiped out while Cochraine’s Goliaths were reduced to a single company and the 2nd Confederation Reserve Cavalry lost a battalion. Freemont's Cuirassiers, McCrimmon’s Light Cavalry, and the Blackwind Lancers were each reduced to half-strength or less while the survivors of the 2nd Ariana Fusiliers and Justinia’s Cuirassiers were forced to surrender.
Nanking
Attackers: 1st Marik Militia, 1st Oriente Hussars, 3rd Oriente Hussars, 1st Orloff Grenadiers, Juggernaut
Defenders: 4th Confederation Reserve Cavalry (2nd Battalion), Justine’s Grenadiers (1st Battalion), McCrimmon’s Light Cavalry (2nd Battalion), Trimaldi’s Secutors (1st Battalion), 3rd Confederation Reserve Cavalry (2nd Battalion)
Outcome: Multiple units were pulled back from the Marik border to defend Nanking and it wasn’t close to being enough to protect the BattleMech producing world. Heavily outnumbered, barely a fifth of the CCAF units successfully made it offworld while the FWLM only lost a fifth of the invasion force.
Trimaldi’s Secutors and Justine’s Grenadiers only retained a company each when the battle ended and the 4th Confederation Reserve Cavalry only had a little more than that. McCrimmon’s Light Cavalry had lost all of their BattleMech in battle while the few survivors of the 3rd Confederation Cavalry were captured by the 1st Oriente Hussars. While all of the FWLM units took losses, they can all be described as light with the exception of the 1st Orloff Grenadiers who lost a battalion of BattleMechs
Liao
Attackers: 1st Atrean Dragoons, 12th Atrean Dragoons, 5th Marik Militia, 6th Marik Militia, 9th Marik Militia, Marik Guard, 6th Oriente Hussars, Smithson’s Chinese Bandits
Defenders: 1st Confederation Reserve Cavalry, 4th Confederation Reserve Cavalry (1st Battalion), Vincent’s Commandos, Trimaldi’s Secutors (3rd Battalion), Justine’s Grenadiers (3rd Battalion), Warrior House LuSann, Warrior House Ijori
Outcome: While otherwise a backwater, this world holds political significance due to its status as the ancestral home of its namesake dynasty and so it was targeted, perhaps disproportionately so. Eight regiments were deployed to invade Liao while the CCAF could only afford three regiment’s worth of BattleMech to defend it.
Leading the defence was Candace Liao and while she wasn’t as impressive as her brother Tormano, the eldest offspring of the Chancellor proved to be capable in her own right by mauling both Atrean Dragoons upon their landing. Both regiments lost close to two battalions and were forced to sit out the rest of the invasion as they were kept in reserve. Alas, this was where the end of the CCAF’s good fortunes. While the 5th Marik Militia lost a little over a battalion, the rest of the FWLM would only suffer light losses while the 9th Marik Militia and Marik Guard emerged from the fighting effectively untouched.
Meanwhile, Justine’s Grenadiers and House Lusann lost half of their forces, House Ijori was fully eliminated and both the 4th Confederation Reserve Cavalry and Trimaldi’s Secutors were reduced to a handful of functional BattleMechs. Vincent’s Commandos lost half of their formation before they were forced to surrender while the 1st Confederation Reserve Cavalry still lost a battalion despite having proportionately the lowest casualties. In the end, a little more than a third of the defending CCAF forces escaped off-world though Candace Liao was amongst their number.
Betelgeuse
Attackers: 1st Defenders of Andurien, 4th Defenders of Andurien, 5th Defenders of Andurien, 6th Defenders of Andurien
Defenders: Ishara’s Grenadiers, Warrior House Kamata, Warrior House Daiachi, Rivaldi’s Hussars
Outcome: As part of political dealing Betalgeuse was only invaded by the Duchy of Andurien with four of its five BattleMech regiments and their supporting elements being committed to the invasion. While it would have been unlikely to change much, the defence was off to a poor start when a misjump delayed the arrival of House Daiachi’s BattleMechs until after Betelgeuse had fallen.
In the end, the CCAF received a grievous defeat at Betelgeuse. Only a few stragglers of House Kamata escaped while Rivaldi’s Hussars surrendered after being reduced to company strength. Ishara’s Grenadiers saw a third of their force successfully getting off-world, another third being captured and the final third destroyed in battle. Meanwhile the 1st Defenders of Andurien lost a battalion when they crushed House Kamata while the 5th and 6th Defenders took light losses against the Hussars and Grenadiers.
Sirius
Attackers: 1st Sirian Lancers, 2nd Sirian Lancers, 3rd Sirian Lancers
Defenders: 3rd Confederation Reserve Cavalry (1st Battalion), Kerr’s Intruders (3rd Battalion), Justine’s Grenadiers (2nd Battalion)
Outcome: The Sirian Concordat took advantage of the truce with the Lyran Commonwealth and the alliance with the Federated Suns to reclaim its former capital with the entirety of the Sirian Lancers being committed. While the CCAF originally intended to defend the world, the remaining units made the decision to withdraw after Kerr’s Intruders were captured almost intact in a surprise attack on their encampment.
Justine’s Grenadiers made it off-world while the Confederation Reserve Cavalry inflicted casualties of two to one on the 1st Sirian Lancers as they fought their way to their DropShips through the numerical difference meant that the Capellan unit lost half of its strength while the Marik formation lost only a third of its own.
Keid
Attackers: 3rd Sirian Lancers
Defenders: Local Militia (two infantry regiments, one armoured battalion)
Outcome: Following the successful capture of Sirius, the Sirian Concordat decided to follow up their success by sending the mostly untouched 3rd Sirian Lancers to seize Keid. The BattleMech regiment crushed the defending militia with no BattleMechs lost and after its armoured battalion was destroyed, the infantry of the Keid Militia surrendered to the invading FLWM force.
Pella III
Attackers: 9th Regulan Hussars
Defenders: Local Militia (two infantry regiments, two armoured battalions)
Outcome: A relative minor engagement compared to the rest of the invasion, the conquest was essentially the Free Worlds League securing its path to Sian and the Captain-General leveraged his ignoring of the support for Anton Marik amongst the Regulan Hussars to getting the Principality of Regulus to commit its provincial forces to some minor invasion.
On Pella III, the inexperienced 9th Regulan Hussars faced minimal resistance from the local militia, who were hesitant to face hostile BattleMechs without friendly BattleMechs to support them. In the end, the militia would surrender to the invading FWLM forces in exchange for lenient terms for their world after losing a couple of skirmishes.
Bently
Attackers: 2nd Regulan Hussars
Defenders: Local Militia (three infantry regiments, two armoured battalions)
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Post-Capellan Confederation border changes as of December 3014.
Outcome: In a similar situation to Pella III, Bently was also invaded by a regiment of the Regulan Hussars. Unlike with Pella III, the local militia put up stiff resistance as they fought a series of battles with the League forces until the capital was captured and the local government capitulated.
Elgin
Attackers: 20th Marik Militia
Defenders: Local Militia (four infantry regiments, one armoured regiment)
Outcome: With Elgin being stripped of its defenders to prevent the fall of Nanking, the world was still protected by a rather substantial militia with multiple regiments of infantry and a full armoured regiment. Ultimately, the Assault-weight BattleMechs and Heavy-weight ASFs of the 20th Marik Militia proved to be too much for the defenders and after suffering close to fifty percent casualties in exchange for inflicting little in turn, the militia finally surrendered to the invading FWLM.
Hsien
Attackers: 2nd Oriente Hussars
Defenders: Local Militia (two infantry regiments, one armoured battalion)
Outcome: In a similar situation to Elgin, Hsien had been stripped of its BattleMech garrison to reinforce Nanking. Unlike Elgin, Hsien had a rather pitiful militia who promptly surrendered to the invading 2nd Oriente Hussars rather than face Marik BattleMechs without BattleMechs of their own to support them.
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Author's Chapter Notes[]
- Word from the Author
- A bit of a long update, but hopefully not too repetitive. I decided that a report/summary style would be the best way to cover how the joint AFFS-FWLM invasion of the Capellan Confederation went. I tried to make it reasonable with the Capellans not just getting crushed, but even then their victories weren’t enough to overcome the sheer amount of force being deployed against them.
The next update will be a continuation of the report summarising the current state of CapCon and the rest of the Inner Sphere while the First Circuit gets its recommendations on how to prop up the crippled Cappies and keep the same from having to the Dracs.