OBT Forum

Following a request from Ice Helion for information on the Pathfinders Regiment I thought I'd post its parent unit history as well just showing the path of the Eridani Light Horse under the AU SLDF.

4th Brigade - Eridani Light Horse Brigade CO:       General Edwin Amis

Command and Transport Division                          Elite           General Edwin Amis
1st Royal Pathfinder Battle Armour Regiment             Elite           Colonel Charlotte Collins
         1st Royal Pathfinder Battle Armour Battalion   Elite           Major Elizabeth Kingly
         3rd Royal Pathfinder Battle Armour Battalion   Elite           Major Harold Darcy
         4th Royal Battle Armour Pathfinder Battalion   Veteran         Major Walter Ritter
71st Light Horse Regiment                               Veteran         Colonel Sandra Barclay
         Huntress, Clan Garrison
21st Striker Regiment                                   Elite           Colonel Eveline Eicher
19th Calvary Regiment                                  Regular         Colonel William Kyle   
        Kittery, Federated Suns
151st Light Horse Regiment                              Elite           Colonel Allan Hargrove

   Rebuilding from Huntress and beginning to find their place within the new SLDF Army the Eridani Light Horse Brigade recently moved to Castle Dieron in the Draconis Combine.  With the First and Second Regiments of the Star League over strength the Eridani Light Horse have been given free range of the excess troops although their commander Lieutenant-General Edwin Amis has been careful in selecting troops maintaining the Light Horse’s fighting edge.  Despite the Commanding-General’s new plans for the SLDF the Eridani Light Horse have maintained their links to the old SLDF maintaining their unique structure and more importantly their unique and effective tactics.
   Although many Light Horsemen were unsure of the Pathfinders Special Forces Battle Armour Company they proved their usefulness in the St Ives Compact.  Following the conflict the Pathfinders were officially attached to the First Battle Armour Corps and increased to full Battalion strength and were attached to the Command Division of the Light Horse.
   Following the Huntress Garrison mission Major William Kyle commander of the Pathfinders was promoted to Lt Colonel.  A company of the Pathfinders travelled to Fletcher to begin training the Second Pathfinders Battalion authorised to form by General Harry 0Sanders and Colonel Wu Tsen Lo, Commanders of the Battle Armour Corps.
   With two Regiments deployed to the Clan border and both the Seventy-first Light Horse and the Pathfinders deployed to Huntress the Eridani Light Horse showed true SLDF spirit facing all foes with great skill and honour.  In November 3064 the Nineteenth Calvary was forced to retreat from the Clan borders after loosing nearly two battalions of troops to the Jade Falcons on Antares.  The 244th ComGuard Division that was on planet with the Nineteenth Calvary was nearly destroyed in that fight and retreated to Dieron with the Nineteenth Striker Regiment.  Following a discussion with Precentor-Martial Focht it was decided that the 244th would become Star League troops and merge with the Nineteenth Calvary bringing it back up to two full Battalions.  The Third Battalion would take longer to rebuild not fully operational until 3069 just before it left with the rest of the Regiment to head for the Clan Homeworlds to relieve the Seventy-first Light Horse Regiment.
   On the 18th September 3067 the 151st Light Horse Regiment joined two ComStar Divisions assaulting the Jade Falcon Occupation Zone in an attempt to make the Jade Falcons watch their backs.  Unfortunately this is not the case.  As they insert into the system they encountered the Clan's Falcon’s Nest, a Texas-class Battleship, the Jade Falcon vessel opened fire on the units destroying one ComGuard Division in an instant.  The other Division and the 151st Light Horse burned towards the planet while the SLS Sparta, a Zechetinu-class Corvette attacked the Falcon’s Nest.  The Sparta no match for the Falcon’s Nest and was destroyed in less than two minutes however this allowed the ground troops a good head-start.  In Light Horse tradition the 151st charged into the Jade Falcon Ground forces destroying the Jade Falcon’s Seventh Provisional Garrison Cluster and the Fifty-first Garrison Cluster before the Falcon’s Nest opened fire on them with orbital bombardment before landing two more clusters on the ground to mop-up survivors.  It is unknown how many Light Horse warriors survived the bombardment to be taken as bondsmen.
   In 3070 Colonel Paul Calvin’s Nineteenth Calvary Regiment replaced Colonel Sandra Barclay’s Seventy-first Light Horse Regiment as the SLDF Garrison on Huntress and as the SLDF’s ambassadors to the Clans on Strana Mechty.  Because of the Nineteenth’s history with the Clans there is a worry in the SLDF that forces from the Nineteenth or Clan Jade Falcon may go looking for trouble to settle old grudges.
   In 3071 the Seventy-first and 151st Regiments were deployed to the Draconis Combine/Star Adder border to assist the Draconis Combine’s desperate attempts to ward off another Clan Invading their realm.  For the Seventy-first this was old news and easy for them adapt to however for the newly rebuilt 151st and their green warriors this was a baptism by fire that none of their men or women would ever forget.  After a few months on the border with the Clans the Seventy-first found itself recalled to Castle Dieron under mysterious conditions and under the strongest complaints from the Seventy-first‘s commander Colonel Sandra Barclay.  On her arrival on Dieron Sandra went straight to the Eridani Light Horse commander General Edwin Amis to voice her complaints about their recall.  Edwin informed Sandra that Colonel Paul Calvin, commander of the Nineteenth Calvary Regiment, on Huntress had died fighting a Jade Falcon attack on the Huntress Star League embassy.  Because of the Seventy-first’s previous experience at the Huntress assignment and their recent blooding with the Star Adders the Seventy-first was the Commanding-General’s and Edwin Amis’ first choice for the assignment however because they had just returned from the assignment it was not an order.  Sandra immediately spoke for her entire command saying she would be honoured to take her regiment to the Clan Homeworlds and avenge the loss of a command member of the Eridani Light Horse Brigade.
   In May 3072 the Seventy-first arrived in the Clan Homeworlds landing on Huntress eager to begin their hunt for the Star Adders.  The Nineteenth Calvary Regiment began preparations to return to the Inner Sphere.  During this preparations Star Captain Rufus Myers of the Third Scorpion Seekers Cluster of the Goliath Scorpion’s Chi Galaxy approaches them and asks to join the Regiment on their journey to the Inner Sphere.  Star League Ambassador Lt. Colonel Edward J. Lynnis agrees to the plan and the Goliath Scorpion’s Trinary joins the Nineteenth on their journey travelling covertly as Eridani Light Horse troopers, this also gives the Goliath Scorpions a chance to study a true relic of the Star League up close for the first time.  On their return journey to the Inner Sphere the Nineteenth Calvary suffered a horrific attack by unknown WarShips, a Battalion and a half of the command was wiped out in space before the JumpShips could escape.  The Unit has since returned to Dieron but will take years to rebuild.
   Following three long years of searching Colonel Sandra Barclay and her Seventy-First Light Horse Regiment tracked down Star Colonel Colton Pryde of Clan Jade Falcon in 3074.  Out with SLDF orders Barclay issued a challenge to the Jade Falcons brining Colton Pryde back to Huntress.  In one-on-one combat Colonel Sandra Barclay revenged the losses the Eridani Light Horse Brigade took against the Jade Falcons and the death of Colonel Paul Calvin.  This action also began a general assault on Huntress as the Jade Falcons withdrew from the world and system.
   In 3075 the Nineteenth Striker Regiment was officially recounted on Eridani Light Horse Brigade books following the death of Paul Calvin and the ambush in the Periphery.  To bring the unit up to fighting spec they were sent to Kittery in the Federated Suns to train against the Federated Suns’ First Kittery Borderers RCT, this would allow the two units to gain fighting strength and allow the SLDF to keep a unit near the Capellan Confederation in light of the escalading violence between the Capellan Confederation, the St Ives Compact and the innocent civilians caught in the middle.  Newly promoted Colonel William Kyle, former commander of the First Royal Battle Armour Pathfinders Battalion, was given command of the newly reformed unit.
   Following the successes of the First Pathfinders Battle Armour Battalion Colonel Charlotte Collins gained enough funding and prominence within the Light Horse to form a further Battle Armour Battalion creating the First Pathfinders Battle Armour Regiment.  This command is quickly become one of the most elite forces within the Eridani Light Horse and the SLDF.  The three Pathfinder Battalions are thus far the only active Pathfinder Battalions in the entire SLDF however General Harry Sanders commander of the 1st Battle Armour Corps continues to monitor their effectiveness.  As anti-terrorist troops and close quarters troops the Pathfinders are unmatched in the SLDF the three Battalions are outfitted with a mix of Infiltrator II, Purifier and Nighthawk Battle Armour suits.
   In early 3077 the Eridani Light Horse at Fort Dieron were the only SLDF or DCMS troops to query orders to attack the Ghost Bear’s Dominion first alerting both commands and the Inner Sphere leaders of the beginning of the Second Ghost Bear Dominion/Draconis Combine conflict.  At the beginning of 3078 the 151st Light Horse and the First Pathfinder Regiments joined Commanding General Archer Christifori and two WarShips on the Snow Raven/Draconis Combine border in an effort to end the fighting between the two nations.  The Pathfinders were instrumental in helping the Commanding-General foil Snow Raven attempts to invade the Combine bringing the offensive to an end on Tabayama.
Current Posting:         Dieron, Draconis Combine

Battle Armour Strength
4 Companies BA    256 Troopers
1 Platoon          12 Artillery Pieces
1 Squadron          6 VTOLs
1 Lance               4 Light OmniMechs (3064+)

Royal Pathfinder Battalion/Regiments
  Initially formed as a Company by the Eridani Light Horse as counter terrorism fighters during the First St Ives War the unit was expanded to Battalion Strength.  As with all SLDF Battalions the Royal Pathfinders the Battalions answer to their parent Brigades first however they also form part of the Battle Armour Corps units.  Unlike the other Battle Armour Battalions the Pathfinders are primarily trained by the Eridani Light Horse on Dieron and are not included in the training of other Battle Armour units.  They are equipped with a variety of Inner Sphere Battle Armour designs Infiltrator II, Purifier and Nighthawk PA(L) are all common.
   Recently there has been talk of further counter-terrorist Battle Armour forces being formed however they have not been trained with or designated as additional Pathfinder Battalions.  There is a rumour within the SLDF of a new type of unit however the only name even with higher levels of SLDF is "The Razors."  It is not believed these units are part of the Pathfinder training program or by extension the Eridani Light Horse.