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Author Topic: RW Supplemental House Deployment Tables  (Read 40707 times)

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Halvagor

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Re: RW Supplemental House Deployment Tables
« Reply #45 on: October 24, 2011, 12:43:12 AM »
Well, FM:DC's profile of the Sword of Light regiments (page 82) opens with:

Quote from: FM:DC
The Sword of Light regiments were formed during General Aleksandr Kerensky's regency over the Star League, when increasing doubts about the League's stability led the Great Houses to engage in a general military buildup.

This would seem to state that the SoLs were created out of whole cloth.  Unfortunately, the next paragraph contradicts this seemingly straightforward idea:

Quote from: FM:DC
Takiro Kurita charged the Bureau of Substitution and the ISF to make the five existing Sword of Light regiments the soul of the DCMS.

This indicates that there were always five Sword of Light regiments, but that they were not necessarily always BattleMech regiments, a rather intriguing suggestion.

However, House Kurita, the Draconis Combine (FASA 1620, about page 37 of the free PDF) indicates that a Sword of Light regiment (which TRO 3075 identifies as the 2nd in the entry of the Von Rohrs 'mech) fought the first large 'mech vs 'mech battle on Nox in 2475 (against the Steiners).  So, clearly the SoL regiments existed as 'mech units from the start of the DCMS BattleMech corps, but it seems, from FM:DC that they weren't the premier 'mech units of the DCMS at the time, because such didn't happen until the second half of the 28th century.  H:RW contributes to this by listing the 2nd & 7th SoL regiments as part of the force sent to attack the Rim Worlds Republic in the Second Draconis Auxiliary Corps, reinforcing what all prior sources have claimed, that the SoL units were always 'mech formations.  It seems that Takiro Kurita, sometime after 2750, simply turned the existing SoL units into the uber-elite of the DCMS.

I don't see how Minoru comes into the equation.  What am I missing in FM:DC?
« Last Edit: October 24, 2011, 12:44:21 AM by Halvagor »
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Takiro

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Re: RW Supplemental House Deployment Tables
« Reply #46 on: October 24, 2011, 04:58:22 PM »
I'm in error, your right about the Takiro not Minoru info I miss remembered. Ever since a few folks pointed out the error in the Sword of Light history which began with the canonization of the unit in FM: DC I've been trying to fix it. Quote my old post -

Quote
Origins of the Sword of Light (A Proposed Continuity Fix for TPTB)

Hey guys I was just chatting with Gauntlet over on Solaris 7 and realized I hadn’t outlined this old thought I got some time back. Tokage was the one you can thank for this thread as he got me thinking on it a long time ago. if you look in House Kurita Sourcebook (FASA 1620) it says that in 2475 during the Battle of Nox a Sword of Light regiment took on a Steiner occupation force in the first Mech vs. Mech conflict. However, Field Manual: Draconis Combine (FASA 1698) say that Coordinator Minoru Kurita formed the Sword of Light regiments during Kerensky’s  Regency. This began in 2751 I believe. A difference of at least 275 years but I have a solution for you that will prevent retcon which I hate. Here is my theory to mesh the seemingly contradictory.

In 2461 the ISF obtained BattleMech technology from the Lyran Commonwealth after a raid on their Coventry facility. This operation was ordered by the infamous Von Rohrs dynasty. So let us say in that time the Von Rohrs dynasty comes up with the first incarnation of the Sword of Light regiments. These elite BattleMechs units created by the Von Rohrs for the glory of the Combine performed well for the next four plus decades. Despite a distinguished service record the regiments were stricken from the DCMS rolls after 2510 when Martin McAlister deposes the last Von Rohrs Coordinator. After 2751 the Swords of Light are given new life by Coordinator Minoru Kurita who wants to create a new elite BattleMech unit. Borrowing from the Combine’s past he reforms the Swords of Light putting a new spin on an old idea. The idea that the unit is in anyway connected to the Von Rohrs family is still offensive to any loyal servant of House Kurita and they don’t take kindly to you pointing one out. Sadly it has become a mere footnote in the annals of history.

It appears over the last few years that TPTB have realized the mistake and are moving to correct it.

Now it is an interesting idea to have the Sword of Light regiments de-meched rather than disbanded. A downgrade would be a change from the disbandment idea I was kicking around.

Here is some other old info on the unit

Quote
Sword of Light
   In Buddhist legend, the Myoos are wrathful deities who drag unwilling souls to their salvation. Each Myoo carries a flaming sword that represents the radiance of Buddha’s teachings. This odd sense of salvation through the actions of a wrathful deity appealed to the earliest members of the Kurita ruling family. It rationalized warring upon one’s neighbors to save them from themselves. As the elite of the DCMS, the Sword of Light were always compared to the flaming sword of the Myoos.
   To be accepted into a Sword of Light regiment, a candidate must have spent at least five years in a lesser BattleMech regiment and have scored in the upper 5 percent of a rigorous battery of political, religious, and military tests. Those who manage to make their way into a Sword of Light regiment are the crème de la crème. If he lives to retire, no easy feat, a Sword of Light warrior can look forward to a life of comfort and glory. There have been twelve different Sword of Light regiments throughout the history of the DCMS. There are currently five.
-   From “Unique Regiments in the Armies of the Successor States”, General Malvos Steinburg (LCAF retired)

Battle History
1.   The first full scale Mech versus Mech battle took place on Nox in 2475, as an attacking Kurita Sword of Light regiment met Steiner occupation forces. Though this Kurita attack was neither successful nor strategically significant, it marked a major turning point in armed warfare.
2.   June 2787 Jinjiro Kurita leads the elite 1st Sword of Light regiment against the Davion held world of Franklin.
3.   June 2787 Minoru Kurita leads the 3rd Sword of Light against the Davion held world of Cartago.
4.   Early summer 2796 Minoru Kurita leads the 6th Sword of Light against the Davion held of Kentares.
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Halvagor

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Re: RW Supplemental House Deployment Tables
« Reply #47 on: October 24, 2011, 11:39:54 PM »
Well, I think that your idea of the units being formed by the Von Rohrs and then disbanded would work, except that I don't see why Takiro would have brought them back, and made them the preemininet DCMS 'mech regiments if they'd been tainted by the Von Rohrs stink.  Just doesn't feel like the sort of thing which would happen in the tradition-bound DC, though if anyone would have done it, it'd be the forward-thinking (and extremely long-lived) Takiro.

Again, I think 1698 is self-contradictory enough that it's possible the SoL were "just another 'mech unit" until Takiro wanted to make them the "Soul of the DCMS"; no history needs to be rewritten, just clarified.  It would allow the SoLs to still have been around for both the battle on Nox in 2475 and the RWR campaign of the Reunification War, but explain why, for instance, the two SoLs sent to the RWR were only sent to the Rim Worlds, and not the higher-priority (for the DCMS) fight in the Outworlds Alliance -- at the time, they were just a typical free-floating regiment, no different from, say, the Prosperina Hussars or the Arkab Legions. 

All this would take would be reinterpreting the first line on 1698's page 82 to mean "The Sword of Light regiments were formed into their current role and status during General Aleksandr Kerensky's regency over the Star League, when increasing doubts about the League's stability led the Great Houses to engage in a general military buildup."  Otherwise, we still have the contradiction from the next paragraph where it talks about the "existing Sword of Light regiments".
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Rainbow 6

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Re: RW Supplemental House Deployment Tables
« Reply #48 on: April 07, 2012, 12:22:41 PM »
It makes sense for the SoL to be just another free floating regiment, which would enable them to be disbanded as needed and then recreated later during kerensky's regency.
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Halvagor

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Re: RW Supplemental House Deployment Tables
« Reply #49 on: April 07, 2012, 03:43:48 PM »
Another wrinkle I've discovered since the earlier discussion on the Sword of Light regiments.  TRO 3039 seems to be confused about how many SoL regiments exist.  The Sholagar description mentions the Third Sword of Light (in the Notable Pilots section) as if it currently exists, which at the time of the book's in-universe publication should not be on the rolls.  But this is a minor quibble compared to what's mentioned in the Stuka writeup, where it talks about the Fifteenth Sword of Light dropping on the planet Quentin in 2899.  Either the SoL were much larger than their traditional five regiments (each representing one Pillar of Draconis society) or else the brigade has seen a lot of reorganization over the centuries. 
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Rainbow 6

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Re: RW Supplemental House Deployment Tables
« Reply #50 on: April 07, 2012, 04:37:47 PM »
I'd assume reorganisation over the course of the succession wars, with each cordinator/DCMS high command choosing which regimental number to use next.
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Blacknova

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Re: RW Supplemental House Deployment Tables
« Reply #51 on: April 08, 2012, 06:09:22 PM »
15th a typo for the 5th and 3rd, take your pick?
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Halvagor

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Re: RW Supplemental House Deployment Tables
« Reply #52 on: April 09, 2012, 03:54:33 PM »
Quote from: Blacknova on April 08, 2012, 06:09:22 PM
15th a typo for the 5th and 3rd, take your pick?
I'd agree that's the simplest explanation, though it's written as out as "Fifteenth" rather than "15th" which makes the idea of a typo somewhat tricky.  It's a lot harder to get from "Fifth" to "Fifteenth" than from "5th" to "15th".  Either way, it's clearly errata which hasn't been fixed and can likely be ignored safely.
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lrose

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Re: RW Supplemental House Deployment Tables
« Reply #53 on: April 09, 2012, 04:35:22 PM »
There definite references to 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th and 15th SoL in various SBs.  Also the HKSB (P. 70) says that there have been a total of 12 different SoL regiments during the history of the DCMS. 

For what it's worth the 15th is mentioned in both TR3025 and TR3039. So it doesn't seem to be an error.



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Ice Hellion

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Re: RW Supplemental House Deployment Tables
« Reply #54 on: April 10, 2012, 03:27:58 PM »
Quote from: Takiro on October 22, 2011, 09:36:32 AM
between the Reunification War (which I can see them participating in) and their appearance under Minoru something had to change.

Why?
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