Corps
A Corps is a group of divisions, regiments and warships that fight and train together. A Corps contains one to three BattleMech divisions, two to seven Infantry divisions, and a number of Independant regiments. Each Corps has a contingent of warships and transports from the Navy, which also include additional troops in the form of Royal Marines. Corps also formed into Armies and Army Groups in the past for spectacularly huge campaigns, such as the recapture of Terra and the destruction of the Rim Worlds Republic. Armies and Army Groups were created as needed, as an operational framework, and were not permanent formations. The TOE of a Corps is also open to rewriting by Force commanders for constructing Battle Groups from any and all available resources at will to tailor them to particular situations.
Divisions
A Division is the heart of the Regular Army. A Division is responsible for protecting a group of worlds in a distance of one hyperspace jump from its base. Divisions are comprised of three Brigades of three Regiments each, plus reserves, a Ground Aero Wing with 54 fighters, and support units for the Division. Some Divisions may have fewer than 3 Brigades, and some contain more than four or more. There are three types of Army Divisions:
- The offensive punch of the Regular Army is the BattleMech Division. Each Division has two Brigades of BattleMech regiments and a brigade of Mechanized Infantry regiments. A BattleMech Division is expected to create holes in enemy lines, and Mechanized Infantry Divisions, made up of two Brigades of Mechanized Infantry and one Brigade of BattleMechs, are expected to exploit those holes as well as hold up in defensive stands.
- On the lower end of the spectrum are Light Infantry Divisions , slow and not as dependant on vehicles but much more able to infiltrate enemy lines without detection. Light Infantry Divisions contain two Brigades of dismounted infantry and one Brigade of Light Mechs.
- Related to Light Infantry are the Jump Infantry Divisions, created for missions that require surprise and swiftness. These Divisions contain two Brigades of parachute-trained and jumppack-equipped infantry and one Brigade of Mechs, also equipped for the most part with jumpjets. These Divisions also contain two Ground Aero Wings, totalling 108 fighters combined, to carry and protect the infantry and to land airmobile artillery & supplies.
Light, and especially Jump, Infantry Divisions are used in terrain that prohibits vehicles, such as heavy forests, cities, and mountains, and many contain parachute and commando Regiments to provide special services and liason with units of the Intelligence and Special Forces Commands. The infantry units of a Division also provide basic fire support for the BattleMech units and hold urban areas without destroying the area around it on a massive scale. Usually the infantry will move in after the majority of the world is secured by the BattleMech Division, although they will often infiltrate a world beforehand as circumstances require. Infantry also play a major role in helping to maintain and guard the long supply train of the Division and assist Marines in guarding landed Naval shipping.
Intermediate & Special-Purpose Formations
The Army groups Light Horse regiments together, along with Striker Regiments for a solid offensive punch, as quick-response units into Regimental Combat Teams. RCTs are deployed for reconnaissance, infiltration, and breakthrough attacks, when the action is mostly on the ground.
Other multi-regiment formations include Marine Expeditionary Units, which are made up of groups of Marine regiments, often supported by Army parachute, combat engineer and special forces infantry units for such things as infiltration of enemy lines or hostage rescue missions. MEUs are used when speed is crucial but combat as likely in space as on ground. MEUs are often deployed alongside Independant Mech regiments as needed. Battle Groups are created by Corps commanders in special situations, such as to exploit the strengths of specific regiments against weaknesses that appear in enemy formations, or when all the regiments of a Corps are not in the same location and action must be taken immediately.
Both MEUs and RCTs are assigned under the Special Forces Command of the Star League Defense Forces.
BattleMech Regiments
The Regular Army has six different types of BattleMech Regiments, with the Naval Command providing a seventh with its Marine units. Unlike BattleMech regiments of the Inner Sphere, MT regiments more closely follow the model of the SLDF, with companies and even whole battalions made up of a single 'Mech type. Though this might seem to make a unit vulnerable to attacks that take advantage of a vulnerability in a particular type of 'Mech, it vastly simplifies maintenance and repairs. Occasionally the Army goes against this principle and makes special "Multi-Mech" or "Buddy" companies of MechWarriors who had been friends in the academy but who qualify in different 'Mech designs. Other times, "Multi-Mech" companies are created for specific purposes so that a Regiment is much more self-sufficient down to its component parts. In both cases, these companies are found only in the Independant Regiments.
Line Regiments appear only in BattleMech Brigades, never separately. Their simple organization of lance-company-battalion have been the pattern of Inner Sphere units for almost a millenia, although SLDF Line Regiments usually do not have their own AeroSpace Fighters, instead getting air support from the Division's Ground Aero Wing or from Fleet Aero Wings from orbiting warships. Most line regiments' coat-of-arms incorporates a a sword into their design.
- Heavy Assault: The knock-out punch of most 'Mech brigades, these regiments had 'Mechs of heavy-to-assault weight and Battalions have a fourth company of attached artillery to support the 'Mechs.
- Battle: The core of most 'Mech brigades, and the most numerous of Line regiments, these units contain medium to heavy BattleMechs.
- Striker: These regiments are used by their parent Division for reconnaissance and breakthrough attacks. They use light to medium BattleMechs and have at least one, usually more, Recon company made up of Land-Air BattleMechs. Striker regiments often have Flights of 2 AeroSpace Fighters permanently attached to them.
Independant Regiments are designed to operate without support from a Division, and sometimes appear in BattleMech brigades to give the Division itself the ability to send detachments off of the main group. They are usually used against enemies too small to justify the use of an entire Division, but too large to leave to infantry regiments. Independant regiments often fight alongside Infantry divisions. In keeping with their independant nature, these 'Mech regiments have companies of non-'Mech weapon systems, such as Jump troops, hovercraft, tanks and fighters, and the Marine regiments often contain water warships and a higher percentage of LAMs. To describe the three types of independant 'Mech regiments, the SLDF used the names of ancient types of horse cavalry. In keeping with this sense of cavalry, their coat-of-arms often incorprorates a horse.
- Dragoon: Against well-equipped enemies, the Army sends a Dragoon regiment, normally composed of Heavy to Assault BattleMechs, tanks and hovercraft.
- Hussar: Hussar regiments are the most common independant regiments. They use medium to heavy 'Mechs, tanks and hovercraft.
- Light Horse: The Light Horse regiments are extremely mobile, made up of light to medium vehicles and 'Mechs, with a special emphasis on reconnaissance. Each Light Horse regiment has at least two Recon companies of information-gathering 'Mechs, like Ostscouts, and information-gathering vehicles, as well as regular 'Mechs and airmobile artillery. MT often drops a Light Horse regiment onto a world to discover the size of enemy forces.
- Marine CAAN: The Naval Command also contributes Marine Corps forces to the Army in the form of Cavalry, Armor, Aerospace and Naval regiments. Marine CAAN regiments deploy directly from the Navy's warships, and, although they are usually not part of a Corps, they operate very closely together on the operational level during campaigns. Marine regiments contain a large amount of Land-Air-Mechs of all weights to more easily deploy to support the Navy in space as well as the Army on ground. They also hovercraft tanks & infantry fighting vehicles, Aerospace Fighters, and water warships for water-rich worlds.
Aerospace & Other Regiments
Aerospace Fighters are also grouped into Wings of 9 squadrons. Like ground units, Wings are made up of only one fighter type. Ground Aero Wings are assigned to Divisions, maintaining air superiority above it and providing extremely mobile and timely fire support. Attached to Ground Aero Wings are combat engineers to build runways and erect hangars & other buildings. Fleet Aero Wings are formed by fighters from all DropShips and WarShips in a Naval task force, and are responsible for security in space as well as protecting transports and landing 'Mechs during a planetary assault. Independant Aero Wings are unattached GAWs assigned by Corps commanders to whereever a division needs extra support. A battalion of mechanized infantry is attached to each IAW.
Tank, Hovercraft and Wheeled Armour regiments are also grouped into regiments of their own, with Light, Medium, Heavy and Assault Tank regiments, each having only one type of tank in each of their three battalions. Most tank regiments are assigned to Divisions as anti-'Mech regiments and as garrison forces.
Infantry Regiments are made up of four types: Mechanized, Light, Jump and Marine, organized with three battalions of three companies, each containing three platoons. Marine Infantry regiments form MP squads on naval bases and on-board ships as well as special ship-to-ship assaults for taking over enemy shipping and warships.
Artillery regiments are assigned to divisions, made up of three battalions, each containing three companies of three batteries each. AirMobile batteries are usually seen in Striker, Marine and Light Horse regiments, with their own integral transport assets, and do not gather into entire regiments. |
|
