FAS1714_FieldManualComstar

CONTENTS

VOICE OF Organization and Command 46 1st Tyr: A Phoenix Emerges 74
THE RESISTANCE THE STAR LEAGUE
4 Com ma nd Structure 46 75
INTROOUCTION 5 OEFENSE FORCE 75
Academies and Training 48 SLDF Chain of Command 76
76
COMSTAR ANO Sandhurst Royal Military College 48 Member-State Forces 76
SLOF ROSTERS The New SLDF 77
7 War Academy of Mars 48 77
SLDF Structure 77
THE COM GUARD AND THE Militar y Acade my of Aph ros 48 BattleMech Assets 78
Aerospace Assets 78
WORD OF BLAKE MILITIA Uniforms and Awards 49 Armor Units 78
Infantry Assets 79
Unit Structure 8 Dress Uniform 49 Recruitment and Training 79
The Focht War College 81
Composition 8 Fi eld Un iform 50 Ranks and Insignia 82
Ran k Structure 82
BattleMech Assets 8 Awa rds and Decoratio ns 50 Rank Equivalency Table 82
Awards 83
Aerospace Forces 9 Color Schemes 50 Sta r League Meda l of Honor 83
The Medal of Valor 83
Armor Units 9 Militia Leaders 50 McKenna Wheel 83
Ca mpaign Ribbon s 83
Infantry Troops 9 Precentor Martia l Uniforms 83
Dress Uniform s 84
ComStar Ranks 10 Camero n st. Jamais 50 Army Duty Uniforms 84
Naval Duty Uniforms 84
Precentor Martial 10 Precentor Naval Grego ry Zwick 50 ERIDANI LIGHT HORSE 84
History 85
Precentor 10 1st Division: True Devotion IV-beta 51 The Horsemen 85
The Usurper and a Horse's Death 85
Demi-Precentor (Com Guard Only) 10 2nd Division: Into Chaos 86
The Eagle and the Horse 86
Adept 10 Stern Resistance IV-gamma 52 Days of Desolation 86
The Horse In Blue 87
Acolyte 10 3rd Division: Pure Thoughts Bronson's Return 87
The Final Straw 88
Branch Designations and Sen iority 10 The Horse and Sun 88
The Fourth Succession War 89
THE COM GUARDS 11 and Actions IV-mu 53 Years of Quiet 89
History 11 The Clans 89
4th Division: Blake's Boldest IV-iota 54 The Star League 89
Renewal 89
Shadow Games 11 5th Division: The Chosen IV-eta 55 Traditions 90
Battle Standa rd 90
Eye of the Storm 11 6th Division: True Believers IV-theta 56 19th Striker Regi ment 90
EXOdus Day 90
The New Dawn 12 7th Division: The Glorious IV-iota 57 Organization 90
Uniform, Insignias, and Ranks 90
Bait and Switch 12 8th Division: Hands of Fate IV-kappa 58 Training 90
Personalities 91
Age of Empires 13 9th Division: Lieutenant General Edwin Amis 91
Colonel Sandra Barclay 91
The Clan Wars 14 Colonel Charles Antonescu 92
Col onel Eveline Eicher
Wheels Within Wheels 14 Blinding Light III-gamma 59 Colonel Paul Calvin 93
Command and Transport Division
Organization and Procedures 15 10th Division: 71st Light Horse: 94
White Horse Regiment
Command Structure and Shooting Stars III-beta 60 151st Light Horse: 95
Dark Horse Regiment
Operational Deployment 15 FREERASALHAGUE 21st Striker Regiment: 96
REPUBLIC Four Horsemen
Training 15 Origins and History 61 19th Cavalry Regiment: 97
61 The Equine Phoenix 97
Color Schemes 17 ROYAL BLACK WATCH 98
REGIMENT
Uniforms, Insignia and Decorations 17 Free dom and Loss 61 History
Fall from Glory
Dress Uniform 17 Lyran Ai d and Revolt 62

Field Dress 17 Independence and War 62
Robes 17 The Clans Arrive 62

Insignia 17 Pa using for Breath 62

Decorations 18 Enter ComSt ar 63

Com Guard Personalities 18 A New Leader 63

Precentor Mart ial Prince Overall Structure 63

Victor Steiner-Davion 18 KungsArme Departmen ts 63

Former Precentor Martial Chain of Co mm and 64

Anastasius Focht 19 Unit Structure 64

1st Army V-kappa: The Bear Maulers 20 Ranks and Ran k Ins ignia 65

2nd Army V-mu: The Iron Warriors 22 Uniforms and Decorations 66

3rd Army V-lambda: Dress Uniform -66

The Emerald Falconeers 24 MechWarri ors 66

4th Army V-iota: Aerospace Pilots 66
Conventiona l Forces 66
The Defenders of Honor 26
Naval Crews 67

5th Army V-omicron: KungsArme Awards 67

The Mountaineers 28 Color Schemes 67

6th Army V-kappa: Grim Defiance 30 Preparing a New Generation 67

7th Army V-iota: The Dark Wave 32 Tyra Miraborg Memorial Academ y 67
Frihet Tra ini ng Facili ty 68
8th Army V-pi: Stern Defiance 34 Kungsarme Notables 68

9th Army V-lambda: The Rag Tags 36 Overbefalhavare Christ ian Man sdotter 68

10th Army V-nu: The Red Legion 38 General Nels Rasmusse n 68

11th Army V-eta: The Honorable 40 General Tor Miraborg 68

12th Army V-beta: 3rd Drakens: Savaged by Wolves 69

The Broadsword and Shield 42 2nd Freemen:

The WarShip Fleet 44 Strength Through Growth 70

WORD OF BLAKE 45 3rd Hussars: Untested Veterans 71

Historical Data 45 2nd Kavalleri: Masters of Stealth 72

Reformation and Separation 45 4th Kavalleri:

From Gibson to Terra 45

Recent Events 46 Their Own Worst Enemy 73

2

The Pact 98 Khan Santin West 115 Ryan Rice
The Black Watch Reborn 98 sa Kh an Karl Devalis 115 Janice A. Ruane-Ropers
Rightful Place 98 Bondsman Minoru 115
Uniforms and Insignias 98 Alpha Galaxy: BattleTech Line Developer
Training Victory over Delusion 116 Bryan Nystul
Notable Personalities 98 Delta Galaxy: Ways of Seeing 117
Colonel Neil Campbell 99 Sigma Galaxy: Spiritual Vision 118 Editorial Staff
Major Annette McHenry 99 Tau Galaxy: A New Path 119 Editorial Director
Royal Black Watch Regiment 99 Xi Provisional Galaxy 120 Donna Ippolito
1ST ROYAL BATTLEMECH 100 Omicron Provisional Galaxy 121 Managing Editor
REGIMENT Chi Provisiona.1Galaxy 122 Sharon Turner Mu lvihill
History 101 Omega Provisional Galaxy 123 Assistant Editor
Training 101 Zeta Provisional Galaxy 124 Robe rt Boyle
Recruitment TABLE OF ORGANIZATION Editorial Intern
Traditions 101 ANO EGUIPMENT 125 Ryan Rice
Personalities RULES 130
Colonel Andrew Redburn 101 Unit Assignment Tables 130 Production Staff
1st Royal BattleMech 101 Formation Abilities 135 Art Director
Regiment (Morgan's Lions) 102 Using Hidden Units Rules 135 Jim Nelson
CLAN NOVA CAT 102 Overlapping Abiliti es Color Section
The Founders 135 Doug Ale xander
Phillip Drummond 103 and Adva ntages 135 John Bridegroom
Anna Rosse 104 Forcing the Initi ative 135 Zak Plucinski
Death of Eden 104 Off-Map Movement 135 Cover Art
Enter Sandra Rosse 104 Overrun Combat 136 Doug Chaffee
The Nova Cat Reborn 105 BattleForce 2 Comm and Li sts 136 Cover Design
Ways of Seeing 105 Equi pment Rati ngs 136 John Bridegroom
The Jaguar Conflict 106 Com Guard 141 Illustrations
Drummond Retu rn s 106 Word of Blake Mi liti a 142 Tom Baxa
The Golden Century 107 Free Rasa lhague Republi c 142 Doug Chaffee
Ope ration Revival 107 Eridan i Light Horse 143 Mark Gibbons
Future Paths 107 Royal Black Watch Regiment 143 Des Hanley
The Cat's Claws 107 1st Royal BattleMech Regiment 143 Kevin Long
Unit Structure 108 Clan Nova Cat 144 William O'Conner
'Mech Assets 108 Training 147 Paul Phillips
Aerospace Assets 109 Purifier Adaptive Battle Armor 149 Matthew Plog
Arm or Assets New Equipment Christina Wald
Infa ntry Assets 109 149 Loston Wallace
Naval Assets 109 Improved C3 Computer 150 Graphic Design
Command Structure 109 Improved Narc Laun cher 152 John Bridegroom
Khan 109 BattleMech Variants 152
Galaxy Commander/Star Admiral 110 154 Special Thanks
Star Co lonel/Star Commodore 110 TSN-1C Tessen 156 Randall N. Bills would like to thank .. . My wife Tara
Star Captain 110 VQR-2A Vanquisher
Star Commander 110 Dante-Class Frigate and son Bryn, who always make the long writing hours
Pomt Commander 110 worthwhile , and Flake for going the extra mile.
Warnor 111 CREDITS
Military Practices 111 Dan Grendell would like to thank ... My parents,
Training 111 Writing Eric and Kathy Grendell , for keeping me going.
Uniforms and Insignias 111 Randall N. Bills (Cl an Nova Cat, Eridan i Ught
Fie ld and Dress Uniform s 111 Chris Hartford would like to tha nk ... Pete, Andy,
Ce rem on ial Uniform 111 Horse, 1st Royal BattieMech Regiment, Royal Black and espeCially Clive, who, despite my frequent com-
Insign ia Watch) plaints, did their best to keep the LAN and e-mail system
Co lor Sch emes 111 running smoothly, allowing me to write a book with two
Clan Customs and Rituals 112 Dan "Fl ake " Grendel l guys a quarter of the way around the world , and Flake for
Vineers 112 (FR R KungsArme, Word of Blake) generating all the Level Ill s.
Rite of the ViSion 112
Oathmaster Grand Melee 112 Chri s Hartford (Co m Guard , Intro duction s) The authors together would especially like to thank
Chron icle of Battles 113 . Bryan Nystul, for letting us dabble in the Batt leTech uni-
Ritual of Battle 113 Project Development verse again and for putting up with some of our tardiness;
Homecoming Day 113 Randall N. Bill s Mike Stackpole, Loren Coleman, and Christoffe r "Bones"
Notable Warriors 113 Bryan Nystul Trossen, all of whom contributed ideas to this Field
113 Manual: Patty and Dave Pettit of the Game Depot in
113 Project Editing Tempe, Arizona, for all their support throughout the years.
113 Sharon Turner Mulvihill
114 Robert Boyle Acknowledgments
115 Diane Piron-Gelman The authors would like to acknowledge the following

writers, on whose material much of this book is based:
Sharon Turner Mulvihill , Diane Piron-Ge lman , Blaine

Pardoe, Boy F. Petersen Jr., Jim Musser, Sam Lewis,
Chris Hussey, Jeffrey Layton, Loren Coleman, Michael
Stackpole , Thomas Gressman

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BATTLETECH FIELD MANUAL: COMSTAR rM is a Trademark of FASA Corporation . Copyright © 1999 FASA Corporation. All Rights Reserved. Printed in the U. S. A.

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3

VOICE OF THE RESISTANCE

Trent Arian grimaced as he looked out of the white-marble "You know how much I love this town," she retorted. "Such
building that was his command post. Though at a temperate lat- nice weather and so defensible ."
itude, summers on this part of Terra could be unpleasantly
cold, at least when compared with his homeworld of Otho. He stifled a laugh. This was an age-old game between
However, the cold didn 't bother him as much as the continual them. True enough, the city would be a nightmare to fight in, but
drizzle. Still , today was a solemn occasion-the ninth anniver- as a major political and financial center, it made more sense
sary of Primus Waterly's murder at the hands of Anastasius for him to be based here than out at Sandhurst, which was, in
Focht-and the weather seemed appropriate. any case, only twenty minutes away by VTOl.

Most members of the Word of Blake observed some sort "History, Sue, history," he said . "This little island nation
of ritual on this day, but as Precentor Martial of the Wo rd of once ruled half the world. And that was before iron ships, let
Blake Militia and military governor of Terra to boot, he had to alone aircraft or satellites." That, and it was far enough from
attend an official memorial service , and Arian hated such Blane and St. Jamais' base of power in Geneva. He was a sol-
"state " duties . Still, the suborbital flight to Hilton Head would dier, not a politician, and though he understood the need for
give him time to catch up on paperwork, and the forecast was maneuvering-and had done his share-their power games
for clear skies and warm temperatures. Thank Blake for small sometimes left him cold. We need a Primus , he thought, not for
mercies . the first time since he, the compromise candidate, had begun
to rule Terra . Someone to take a stand and stop the bickering
Pulling on his cloak, he stepped into the hall to find and fratricidal clashes. Still, better survive today's little tete-a-
Precentor Mulvanery, his deputy since the landings back in '58, tete first.
waiting, already garbed in her formal attire . He grinned. "Keen
as ever, Sue." Security troops fell into step alongside Arian and
Mulvanery as they walked toward the large oak doors. After two
years of hunting them down, the Com Guard resistance stili
remained a major problem, and in recent months their activities
had escalated. Military compounds were bombed and Blakist
administrators assassinated . There had been two attempts on
Arian himself, though neither had stood any real chance of suc-
cess . However, it paid to be cautious, and in addition to the
security goons, he had replaced his ground-car with a model
that COUld-it was claimed-withstand autocannon fire. I have
no desire to test it, though, he thought.

A quick walk down the steps, security personnel ever-vigi-
lant, and the two officers were safely ensconced in the cav-
ernous rear of the vehicle. A man of simple tastes, Arian
thought the luxurious appointments of the vehicle a little too
ostentatious, though it did have its uses . Mayas well enjoy it,
he thought.

As the close-escort team settled into their seats in the
front compartment, the vehicle pulled away smoothly, flanked
by motorcycle outriders. As the vehicle sped down the tree-lined
boulevard, Mulvanery leaned forward. "Drink? "

"You're a bad influence, but you twisted my arm," Arian
said . "Not the Glenngarry Black Label, though ." The edge of a
smile twisted his lips. He sighed and relaxed back into the
leather upholstery, noting his XO 's matching grin as she
opened the drinks cabinet. They both gasped as they saw the
note within. Though the message it bore was only one line, its
very presence spoke volumes. A fraction of a second later, the
note's contents were rendered irrelevant as the car trans-
formed into an expanding ball of flames and shrapnel.

4

INTRODUCTION

To: First Lord Theodore Kurita, Imperial City, Luthien changes again . Something that is not in the document but has
From: Precentor Martial/Commanding General Victor become clear in my conversation with Winters is that not all the
Nova Cats believe their leaders were right to side with the SLDF
Steiner-Davion, Focht War College, Tukayyid in Bulldog and on Huntress. These "hard-liners," for want of a
Subject: Military readiness report better word, appear to be gathering in their own communities
on Irece's Elmina continent and could, if unchecked, pose a
Theodore, major security risk to your interests .

When I accepted the council's offer to become head of the * * *Transmission Altered* * *
Star League Defense Forces at last November's council ses-
sion on Tharkad, I knew I faced a major task. I commissioned " I seek the truth in Blake's Wisdom ."
the forces under Star League command to provide a readiness
report akin to the one you commissioned for the DCMS four * * *Alteration Ended * * *
years ago. At the same time, my people in ComStar compiled a
similar report on Com Guard forces, as did our allies in the Free Rasalhague also poses an interesting problem. Since they
Rasalhague Republic. These reports are now complete, and I have become reliant on ComStar for protection since the inva-
have attached them for your reference. sion, their recent militancy is worrying and could pose problems
for both the Star League and ComStar. I can see their new
The Word of Blake material you forwarded last month was Prince pushing for the withdrawal of foreign troops , but I don't
a surprising addition to the briefing document. I can only believe they can stand against the Clans, especially the Ghost
believe they are attempting to demonstrate their willingness to Bears given the situation with Ragnar. Nor could they stand
cooperate with the Star League in hopes of winning represen- against Katherine 's troops or, dare I say it, your own. If we 're
tation on the council, either as full members or as observer- not careful we could have another situation on our hands, this
members like ComStar. My intelligence people have attempted time so confused it would make St. Ives look like a picnic.
to verify the information, and though they have been able to
confirm little, they have found nothing that would challenge the Which brings me to Sun Tzu's private little war. His abuse
veracity of the report. However, something about it prompts me of member-state forces to kick off bloody war with Candace's
to urge caution. Despite their seeming amiability, I do not trust people hasn't earned him any friends, but it has already cast
either William Blane or Cameron St. Jamais. At first I put this doubts on the institution of the SLDF. People wonder if we 'll
down to the antipathy between ComStar and the Word of become nothing more than a tool for the First Lord to use to
Blake-our troops keep butting heads in the Chaos March, and benefit his own people rather than the Star League as a whole .
they persist in tampering with our communications, inserting As for St. Ives itself, I'm not entirely sure what can be done to
sayings attributed to Jerome Blake being their current calm things down. History has shown that such interfamily dis-
favorite-but something doesn't tally. We think they 're coded putes-St. Ives is a sovereign nation, so this isn't a civil war,
messages, but we haven 't cracked the encryption yet. However, no matter what Sun Tzu or Katherine says-are always the
I can't quite put my finger on it. Maybe it's the speed of their bloodiest, and I fully expect things to get worse before they get
expansion. My intelligence people believe that increasing their better.
operational strength to ten divisions is at the upper end of what
they could achieve in four years, even with defections from the I have two Com Guard divisions in the area plus some true
Com Guard and Thomas Marik's generosity. Unless they have SLDF troops, but this is about the most I can deploy without
found Amaris ' lost treasure, I believe they must be close to calling for a council vote, which is an awkward proposition . Even
bankruptcy, which is likely another motive for their current rap- with Katherine allowed only a single vote, things could go the
prochement with the Star League . wrong way. Despite events earlier this month, Katherine,
Thomas, and Sun Tzu form one block, and yourse lf and
While on the subject of rapprochement , the Nova Cat Candace another. Mi'msdotter would probably vote with you
forces pose an interesting problem. I know their Touman has since he's pro-independence , but as he's only been in office a
clashed with your own military, and the formation of the Irece short while I wouldn't like to rely on him to give us a stalemate
Prefecture seems the best solution, as does making your son and thus allow ComStar the deciding vote . The only other
liaison. However, I would urge caution in your dealings with the options that spring to mind are to break Sun Tzu's alliance or
Nova Cats. Their landholdings are from you in your capacity as to restructure the council . Actually, they could be done at the
Coordinator, but Biccon Winters assures me their first loyalty is same time, but that in turn requires a vote of the existing mem-
to the Star League and the First Lord, not the Combine. As bers. As you know, I overstepped my authority somewhat in this
such , I can see more trouble when the position of First Lord area, and I have had to scale back operations before they
threaten my position.

5

My suggestion is this: allow the Magistracy of Canopus an want Canopus' extra vote, since it is more secure than
independent seat on the council, but make this conditional on Katherine's or Thomas '.
their withdrawal from the St. Ives conflict by the end of the year.
This gives Sun Tzu another supporter on the council , but this Anyway, I'd better leave it at that. I've gone on far longer
can be counterbalanced by bringing in the Nova Cats, who will than I intended .
likely side with the Combine. Katherine will not be happy, espe-
cially as it sets a precedent that might allow Morgan Kell or Regards,
Phelan voting rights-after all, the Arc Royal Defensive Cordon
is as independent as the Irece Prefecture-but Sun Tzu will Precentor Martial,
Victor Steiner-Davion
Commanding General, SLDF
24 April, 3062

8

COMSTAR AND SLDF ROSTERS

The following sections describe the military history and rati ngs, thou gh spec ific conditions may bias the outcome of an
current status of units associated with the Star League, engage ment and thus these ratings are not infallible. The stan-
ComStar, Word of Blake , and Free Rasalhague Republi c. They dard quality rati ngs are Green , Regular. Veteran, and Elite.
include common practices,outstanding officers, force strength, Gree n denotes un its t hat are predominantly composed of new
and details of their relationships with other groups. The organi- recruits or inexperienced soldiers. Such units are often t ra ining
zational standards vary by unit, but the forces have been loose- units or else lack com bat experience. Regular unit s comprise
ly grouped with appropriate introductory mate rial. For exa mple, troops of average abilities-competent soldiers with some
the Nova Cat forces have an introduction th at reflects th eir Clan combat experience-and form the bulk of troops in Inner
origins and structure, whil e the Word of Bl ake Militia and Com Sphere un its . Howeve r, in Clan Nova Cat such units are regard-
Guard, with common origins, share an introductory secti on . ed as below average. Veteran units comprise troops who have
su rvived numerous battles and are thus familiar with the
Each type of unit is indicated by one of th e foll owing sym- re quirements of modern warfare. Such units are well-regarded
bol s , but it should be noted that combin ed arms domi nate the in t he In ne r Sphere , though they are considered "the norm" in
Light Horse, Nova Cat, Com Guard, and Word of Bl ake stru c- Clan Nova Cat. Elite units contai n the most highly trained, expe-
ture s; thus, such icons indicate the dominant force in t he unit. ri enced, and knowledgeable troops and are highly regarded.

'MECH AERO- ARMOR SPECIAL INFANTRY Loya lty ratings mean different things in different units. !n
SPACE Cla n Nova Cat it represents loyalty to the Clan's membersh ip in
th e SLDF, ranging from fanatical support to the "questionable "
The description for each unit contain s detai ls of its size voca l mino rity who oppose any relationship with t he Inner
and quality as well as its perceived loyalty to the pol itical lead- Sphere . In the yom Guard, the loyalty rating is more general-
ership. ized, refle cting both the unit's or commande r's relat ionship
with the new Precentor Martial and the loyalty to ComStar and
The quality rating of a unit is an estimation of its overall the reforms instituted by Anastasius Focht and Sharilar Mori.
skill and combat experience , determined by a review of past Similarly, in the Word of Blake such ratings indicate loya lty to
performance and expectations based on th e curre nt equipment Prece ntor Martial St. Jamais and the Blakist cause , th ough t he
and personnel make-up. Units with high qu ality ratings can be constant infighting among factions makes such judgme nts high-
expected to perform consistently better than th ose with lower ly subjective . In the case of Free Rasa lhague Republic and Star
League Defen se Forces , the loyalty ratings reflect the strength
of t hei r all egiance to the Elected Prince Regent and First Lord,
respective ly.

7

THE COM GUARDS AND
THE WORD OF BLAKE IVIILITIA

Until 3052 the Com Guards and the Word of Blake Militia L.ewl1t SIze
were the same entity, the armed forces of Com Star that proved 1 unit (,Meeh, vehicle,
decisive in holding back the Clans at Tukayyid. However, the leV§l1f (Battalion) fighter, 28 men,
schism in ComStar that followed the ascension of Sharilar Mori 4 battle armor troopers)
to the post of Primus also sundered the ComStar Guards and Lev« W(DM$ion) 6 units
Militia (also known as the Com Guards). While the bulk of the 36 units
troops remained loyal to the new Primus and the Precentor Level V (Army) 216 units
Martial, many warriors went into exile in the Free Worlds 864-1,296 units
League and over the years that followed formed the Word of
Blake Militia on Gibson. Unsurprisingly, the rank structure and COMPOSITION
organization of the two units are very close, and this section is Each Com Star formation is a combined-arms force and
intended to cover the common ground, leaving force-specific
details like command structure to the relevant sections that fol- uses a Greek letter to denote the proportion of 'Mech, armor,
low. Please note that as both groups style themselves as and infantry forces it contains (aerospace forces are more or
"ComStar," that designation has been used in the material that less constant). Letters closer to the start of the alphabet con-
follows rather than the cumbersome "Com Guards and Word of tain a higher proportion of 'Mech units and are intended for
Blake Militia." offensive operations, while letters toward the end of the alpha-
bet imply a higher proportion of armor and infantry and are gen-
UNIT STRUCTURE erally used by garrison or city-fighting formations. The following
table, provided for divisional (Level IV) strength formations,
ComStar forces diverge from the Star League-originated offers a rough guide to the number of each type of subunit
system of lances, companies, battalions, and so forth and (given in the number of Level I units involved) in Com Star for-
instead use a system based on multiples of six that offers mations. Some formations, most notably the Com Guards
great flexibility for deployments. Both the Com Guards and the 472nd Division (Invader Galaxy), do not conform to this
Word of Blake Militia make use of combined-arms forces, for scheme .
which this system is ideally suited.
BATTLEMECH ASSETS
The smallest formation is a Level I, which comprises a sin- Historically ComStar forces used BattleMechs of Star
gle BattleMech, fighter, tank, or infantry squad. Such units are
the building blocks of ComStar forces. The next formation, a League vintage, but the vast losses on Tukayyid, the strains of
Level II, contains six Level Is and is thus roughly analogous to the schism, and the Word of Blake takeover of Terra have
a reinforced lance or a demi-company. In many cases a Level II prompted considerable diversification. Where once designs like
contains units of the same type (e.g., BattleMechs), but com- the Mercury, Guillotine, and Thug dominated, Successor State
bined-arms groups are also possible at this level. designs have become more prominent. As might be expected,
the Word of Blake makes considerable use of Free Worlds
The next formation, a Level III , contains six Level II forma- League designs like the Jackal, Hammer, and even the
tions and is the ComStar equivalent of a battalion; it is fre- Perseus, though they have also used League and Terran facili-
quently referred to as such. Level Ills are almost all combined- ties to produce designs like the Toyama, the Grand Crusader,
arms formations. Level Ills are usually the largest formations to and the Initiate. The Com Guards have likewise used a number
operate together on a regular basis. of Inner Sphere designs: the Combine-produced O-Bakemono
and Avatar, as well as coproducing designs like the Beowulf,
Level IV formations, known as divisions, contain six Level Viking, and Helios (the first two with the Rasalhague
III formations, making them equivalent to two SLDF-style regi- KungsArme, the last with the St. Ives Compact). However, the
ments. Divisions are the largest permanent formations and loss of Terra in 3058 placed a number of the Com Guards' man-
form the backbone of the administrative network. The Com ufacturing lines for designs like the Excalibur and Shootist in
Guards also uses a large formation, the Level V or army, that
contains between four and six divisions (officially the latter).
Though principally administrative, Level V formations can form
field commands, as was demonstrated on Tukayyid. It is not
known at this time if the Word of Blake has organized its forces
into armies.

8

APPROXIMA'TII COMSTAR
DIVISION PaAMATION
COMPCI8ITION TAIILE

BattIeMech Annor Infantry Aerospace
4 9 39
Alpha 164 6 13 39
9 17 39
Beta 158 22 39
11 26 39
Gamma 151 13 30 39
15 35 39
Delta 144 17 39 39
19 43 39
Epsilon 138 22 48 39
24 52 39
Zeta 132 26 56 39
28 60 39
Eta 125 30 65 39
32 69 39
Theta 119 35 73 39
37 78 39
Iota 112 39 82 39
41 86 39
Kappa 105 43 91 39
45 95 39
Lambda 99 48 99 39
50 39
Mu 93 52 104 39
54 108
Nu 87

Xi 80

Omicron 73

Pi 67

Rho 60

Sigma 54

Tau 48

Upsilon 41

Phi 34 designs like the Pegasus, Manticore, and Demolisher.
However, despite its exile from Terra, the Com Guard roster
Chi 28 continues to be dominated by Star League designs like Gabriel,
Nightshade, and Burke. In stark contrast, the Word of Blake
Psi 21 uses relatively few ex-SLDF designs , instead using those com-
mon in the Free Worlds League, like the Ontos and Galleon. A
Omega 15 Level I armor unit comprises a single tank.

Word of Blake hands . A Level I BattleMech unit comprises a si n- INFANTRY TROOPS
gle BattieMech. As with armor units, infantry play an integral role in front-

AEROSPACE FORCES line ComStar forces, though there is a notable bias toward
Save for those assigned as spacecraft escorts , usu ally of infantry in formations designed for defense or city combat.
Most Com Star infantry are mechanized, using APCs or IFVs to
Level II strength , ComStar forces integrate aerospace assets at navigate the battlefield, though jump infantry and "leg" infantry
the most basic level. With minor losses compared to t hose sus- appear in specialized roles. Both the Com Guards and Word of
tained by ground forces, Star League designs like the Gotha, Blake Militia use light power armor for commando teams and
Rogue, and Tomahawk remain common, though others, like the both have begun to make extensive use of battle armor. Though
Stingray and Riever, are also prominent. Indeed, in their aero- the Com Guards simply use standard Inner Sphere battle
space forces, there is little difference between the Com Guards armor, the Word of Blake Militia deploys small quantities of the
and Word of Blake Militia. Though a Level I aerospace unit tech- Longinus and Achileus battle armor manufactured by the Free
nically consists of a single fighter, ComStar fo llows st andard Worlds League and has recently fielded a new design: the
military doctrine and always deploys fighters in pairs. Purifier Adapt ive battle armor. A Level I standard infantry unit
(platoon) consists of twenty-eight men-neither the Com
ARMOR UNITS Guards nor Word of Blake Militia deploys its standard infantry
Unlike the military of the Successor States , where it is rel- in any organ izational group smaller than a platoon . A Level I bat-
t le armor unit cons ists of four troopers .
egated to a supporting role, armor plays an integral part in
ComStar forces . The vehicle forces took a pounding on
Tukayyid , prompting the introduction of Succe ssor State

9

COMSTAR RANKS BRANCH DEBIGNATIONS

The Com Guards and the Word of Blake use a simil ar rank MllltatyjROM MechWarrior
system, with the same designations, indicators of seniority, Aerospace Pilot
and promotion systems. Both use a lean rank structure, with Epsilon Infantry
three grades (four in the case of the Com Guards) and an addi- Pi Dropship Crew
tional command post. Iota JumpShip/WarShlp Operations/Crew
Xi Military Technician
PRECENTOR MARTIAL Theta Intelligence Analysis
Both the Com Guards and Word of Blake Militia use Zeta Intelligence Gathering
Mu Ground Armor Crew/pilot
Precentor Martial to denote the head of their armed forces . The Rho
Precentor Martial serves as the liaison between the orders' Lambda
governing bodies (the Primus and First Circuit of ComStar, the
Ruling Conclave of the Word of Blake), executing their orders Other HPG Operations
and originating battle plans. He oversees the service-arm Scientific Analysis
heads (the precentors in charge of BattleMech, infantry, armor, Alpha Medical
and so on) as well as the Precentor ROM and the Naval Beta Intelligence (Non-ROM/Military)
Precentors. The current Precentor Martial of the Com Guards is Kappa Diplomacy
Prince Victor Steiner-Davion, and the Precentor Martial of the Delta Public Relations
Word of Blake is Cameron St. Jamais. Gamma Research
Sigma Education/Instruction
PRECENTOR Omega Recruitment
Precentors are the senior officers of the Com Guards and Eta Historian/Archivist
Nu Administrative Affairs
Word of Blake Militia, serving as commanders of large units. In Tau Rnancial/Monetary Control Offices
the Com Guards this has traditionally been reserved for Level Chi
IV- and Level V-sized units, but the Word of Blake also places Phi
precentors in command of Level III units. In the Word of Blake
Militia, a junior precentor, usually commanding a Level III unit, Word of Blake Only
may be referred to as a Dem i-Precentor, though their rank
remains that of precentor. The rank of precentor is roughly Omicron Obedience (ROM)
equivalent to that of a colonel or lieutenant genera l, though the
Word of Blake version may also be viewed as a major. Psi Spiritual Enlightenment (Military)

CEMI·PRECENTOR ACOLVTE
(COM GUAROS ONLV) The rank of acolyte is the most common in ComStar. It

An informal rank in ComStar before the Reformation (see encompasses all the enlisted ranks of other militaries, with
the Word of Blake usage with regard to precentor and adept for seniority being the principal factor that distinguishes the equiv-
its original use), ComStar formalized the rank of Demi-Precentor alents of privates, corporals, and sergeants .
to provide a more gradual progreSSion between junior and
senior levels of command. In the Com Guards, a Demi- BRANCH OESIGNATIONS
Precentor commands a Level III or occasionally a Level IV unit. ANO SENIORITV
The rank is roughly analogous to a major or colonel in the SLDF.
All members of Com Star have a designation that compris-
AOEPT es a Greek letter and a Roman numeral, showing th eir service
Adepts form the junior officers of Com Star forces, com- branch and the number of years at their current rank. The table
below contains all the branch designations, which are common
manding Level II units as well as work teams and any units to both the Com Guards and the Word of Blake , save for the
assigned to independent operations. They have rudimentary Omicron and Psi des ignations, which ComStar discontinued in
command training and are roughly equivalent to SLDF captains the Reformation. The Roman numeral serves to establish
and lieutenants. In the Word of Blake Militia, a senior adept seniority within ranks, the lowest being I (1st year at current
assigned to command several Level II units may be called a rank) and the highest being XXV (25th year at current rank).
Demi-Precentor, though their rank remains that of an adept. After 25 yea rs the individual is automatically promoted to the
next rank and their seniority indicator reset to I.

10

THE COM GUARDS

Precentor Martial Steiner-Davion , Before departing the Inner Sphere, Kerensky persuaded
Please find attached the briefing you requested on the his- the bulk of these units-some seventeen divisions and four-
teen independent regiments-to side with Jerome Blake, whom
tory, organization and composition of the Com Guards . As you he had known from the war against Amaris. They were to aid
will see, our order has not been idle in the 275 years since Blake's reconstruction efforts, and Blake, with near-total con-
General Kerensky and the Star League Council gave Jerome trol over communication in the Inner Sphere, was able to con-
Blake his mission. Many of these events are unknown outside ceal their fate.
our order or are shrouded in mystery and disinformation. As a
neutral party, our order required such secrecy to ensure our Blake's Department of Communications, renamed ComStar
'Survival. A vengeful or jealous House lord could have wrecked in 2785, had plans beyond simply rebuilding the Inner Sphere 's
ComStar, and though our actions have not always been "right," communications network. He saw that the Hegemony was
they have often been necessary. We are not apologizing for defenseless before the Great Houses and would likely be divid-
some of our less appropriate methods, but they should be ed up as spoils of the war. He proposed having ComStar formally
viewed in the context of the events and politics of the time. As take control of the Hegemony, but ComStar's ruling body, the
such , we have taken the liberty of expanding the historical brief First Circuit, was divided on the matter. Some suggested
beyond purely military endeavors to include events within ComStar take a more militant approach, while others pushed for
ComStar and the Inner Sphere. Unlike previous works, which talks to re-establish the Star League. In the end, Blake 's vision
have been tampered with by Blakist agents, we believe the won, and , as a prelude to the seizure, he set about getting the
material contained herein is accurate and unbiased . We hope it Great Houses to accept ComStar's neutrality. This was estab-
proves useful and enlightening. , lished in the Communications Protocol of 2787, though the out-
break of war between the Houses prompted a modification to
-Gudrun Sigurdsdottir, Demi-Precentor IV-mu the plan. Rather than targeting the entire Terran Hegemony,
-Viggo Gruy, Adept XI-tau Blake's forces would limit themselves to Terra itself.

19 April 3062 On 25 June 2788, ComStar shut down communications
within the Inner Sphere and launched Operation Silver Shield.
HISTORY In a 72-hour campaign, eight divisions, masquerading as mer-
cenary troops and led by General Lauren Hayes, occupied mili-
Officially, the Com Guards were formed following the tary and political sites and defeated the small military units
Fourth Succession War, to prevent such tragedies as occurred loyal to the Great Houses. They also eliminated the threat
on Sarna, but in truth ComStar's armed forces are much older. posed by two former SLDF divisions based in South America
The Successor States had privately known since 2933 that that refused to accept ComStar's use of force. With Terra
ComStar maintained a small armed force, but even thi s date secured, ComStar moved to strip New Earth, site of Kerensky's
was incorrect by some 150 years. ComStar's armed forces SLDF headquarters, of all military and technological items, and
actually share the same origins as do those of the Clans. by July 11, this too was completed. The Great Houses were
unhappy that Jerome Blake had "betrayed the principle" of
SHADOW GAMES ComStar's neutrality, but though each coveted Terra, none
Stefan Amaris' coup destroyed the Terran Hegemony and dared challenge ComStar's possession.

irrevocably shattered the Star League. In 2780, the only agree- * * *Transmission Altered * * *
ment in what remained of the Star League Council was that
Jerome Blake should become Minister of Communications, over- "Holding Terra provides political legitimacy, something we need
seeing the reestablishment of the HPG network, which had been to survive the future . It will present many problems, but we
ravaged by more than a decade of war. The commander of the must seize the initiative and seek to do what will advance the
Star League armies, Aleksandr Kerensky, saw that his troops greater viSion. All is blessed initiative the quest for Truth. Ours
would become little more than pawns in the political machina- is the glory. "
tions of the Great Houses. Indeed a number of units had already
defected to the Houses. Instead, Kerensky proposed a bold alter- * * *Alteration Ended * * *
native: an Exodus out of the Inner Sphere to find a new home.
EVE OF THE STORM
Four-fifths of the SLDF sided with the general, but others After Silver Shield , ComStar mothballed most of its military
felt their duty lay with the Inner Sphere and chose to remain.
Some of these units sided with the Great Houses, but the bulk equipment at various sites across Terra . Some was allocated to
simply disappeared. Some historians suggested that they ROM following its foundation in 2811, but this was principally
departed in a second exodus or were destroyed by Kerensky in infantry equipment and vehicles. Emilio Travis drafted a few
a covert civil war. The truth was far more shocking. 'Mechs and aerospace flgh~ers curing his search for the

11

Minnesota Tribe, a raiding force of unknown origin that struck the headquarters to the former Star League capital, Unity City,
Periphery edge of the Draconis Combine in 2826, but they Kurstin plotted his counterstrike: Operation Winged Crusader.
returned to storage after the mission's unsuccessful conclusion. The Primus hired three regiments of mercenary troops and pro-
vided them with vintage SLDF equipment, ostensibly to garrison
However, it should be noted that Blake's death in 2819 Terra but in practice to take the war to the rebels. However,
threatened to bring ComStar into the Succession Wars. Led by many flocked to join the rebels and alerted them to the danger.
Herman Schwepps, a faction within the First Circuit objected to Unwilling to see ComStar wielding force openly, Hartford
new Primus Conrad Toyama's plans to continue the order's neu- ordered a sleeper agent, known only as Saber, to assassinate
trality. Instead, they proposed direct military intervention in the the Primus. With Kurstin dead, preparations for Winged
Successor States to restore the Terran Hegemony. This was not Crusader ground to halt and peace returned to the order.
to be. Backed by Precentor ROM Michelle Dupres, Toyama insti-
gated "the purification," a purge of the pro-war faction and any However, the recruitment of mercenaries set a precedent
disloyal members of the order. By the end of the process, twen- that would be followed for the next thirty years, with a number
ty percent of the order were dead, imprisoned in re-education of units, usually battalion-size or smaller, contracted to defend
camps, or missing. Although criticized on some levels, Terra and carry out small-scale operations . These forces proved
Toyama's actions strengthened ComStar's position of neutrali- particularly valuable in clashes between ComStar and the
ty in the Inner Sphere and set ComStar on the path toward Draconis Combine in 2931. Necess Kurita, sister of
becoming a religious order. He also restructured the rank sys- Coordinator Hugai, had petitioned ComStar for membership
tem, making it akin to a monastic society, though Successor and been accepted . However, her brother objected and sent ISF
States that thought neutral ComStar could be cowed were swift- agents on a bloody raid to "rescue" her. Primus Hollings York
ly disabused of that notion . knew that the Combine would not respect ComStar if they
acquiesced, nor would they be cowed by an interdiction. The
In 2830 Toyama agreed to allow Jeanette Marik, who had only suitable response was the threat of military action, and
joined the order in ·2821, to pass information to her brother, with this in mind, ComStar snatched up the contracts of a num-
Captain General Charles Marik. This allowed Captain General ber of mercenary units. However, it was the Bandersnatches, a
Marik to make significant gains, but by 2836 he had become unit already under contract to ComStar (although ROM misdi-
suspicious of ComStar's motives, and, after he found seeming rection later suggested the unit was hired during the crisis),
proof of duplicity, he attacked and razed the Com Star com- that was used as a Sword of Damocles, threatening an assault
pound on Oriente. ComStar's response was swift and devas- on the Combine capital if ComStar's demands were not met.
tating: an eighteen-month shutdown of HPGs within the League. Hugai, recognizing the danger, backed down .
ComStar personnel went into hiding, and ROM and the Free
Worlds League intelligerice agency, SAFE, waged a covert war. Primus York used the incident to highlight ComStar's need
By November 2838 Marik had little choice but to back down, as for a military arm, both to defend Terra and to handle such inci-
the lack of communications and intelligence had crippled the dents in the future, and by 2933 the ComStar Guards and
League's efforts against the Lyran Commonwealth and Militia began to form. Initially an infantry force some eight reg-
Capellan Confederation . This conflict, later known as the iments strong, the Guards added ' Mech troops in the 2980s,
ComStar War, was a clear victory for Com Star. and by the 31st century the modern Com Guards were born.
ComStar informed the Successor States of this development
Toyama's successor was Raymond Karpov, who continued and assured them it was for "defensive purposes" only.
Toyama 's policies and expanded ROM. Furthermore, Karpov Furthermore, by publicly forming the unit around the
instigated Operation Holy Shroud, a covert program of assassi- Bandersnatches, they hid the true origin of the materials used
nation and terrorism to maintain ComStar's technological to build this new army: those left behind by the SLDF. At the
advantage by preventing the Successor States from recovering same time, ComStar reopened the Sandhurst Royal Military
the technology they had lost in the near-apocalyptic fighting of College (as the Holy Order of Sandhurst) and began a program
the First Succession War. By this time , ComStar's neutral of renovation on the SLDF WarShips it had concealed since the
image was so well-entrenched that the Great Houses believed Exodus. A number of new ships were constructed, but escalat-
one another responsible for the killings. ing costs and increasing difficulty in maintaining secrecy
prompted the abandonment of this program in 2949.
THE NEW DAWN
A new era for ComStar began with the ascension of Dwight BAIT AND SWITCH
The ascension of Primus Addriene Sims in 2947 tem-
Kurstin to the Primacy in 2901. Becoming increasingly para-
noid, Kurstin ordered a witch hunt within ComStar intended to porarily slowed the expansion of the ComStar Guards and
solidify his rule. This triggered what amounted to a civil war Militia, as she first revitalized ROM, neglected and nearly dis-
within the order, and his opponents fl ed Terra . Using their con- banded under Hollings York, and then founded the Explorer
trol of the First Circuit of HPG stations, the rebels, led by Corps in 2960 . However, her successor, Yin Takami, was more
Precentor Gregori Hartford, interdicted Terra itself. Moving his

12

than willing to use and expand the force, as shown by his as Waterly renamed the ComStar Guards and Militia, a base on
orders for the First Division to destroy the wreck of the Black every Inner Sphere world.
Lion-class WarShip SLS Tripitz, preventing it from falling into the
hands of the Taurian Concordat. It was Takami who increased AGE OF EMPIRES
the 'Mech element of the CSG&M , a development running in Waterly saw the Steiner-Davion pact as the end of the Inner
parallel with the less successful Holy Shroud II missions to
assassinate Successor State scientists . Sphere . The massive power block created by the alliance had
already shown its teeth in the Fourth Succession War, and further
The CSG&M's next major operation came in 3004, when aggression seemed likely. The Draconis Combine, a long-stand-
ComStar-sponsored pirate gangs, intended to cause friction ing foe of both powers, was the most probable target, so Waterly
between the Lyran Commonwealth and the Draconis Combine, entered into negotiations with Gunji-no-Kanrei Theodore Kurita. In
ignored orders and struck out on their own. Negotiations with exchange for intelligence and war material (later to prove vital in
the pirates only worsened the situation, and when the bandits the Combine's victory against the alliance in the 3039 war), the
struck at the HPG compounds on the planets Lost and Canal, Combine would recognize the existence of the Free Rasalhague
the CSG&M went into action. Taking place some eight jumps Republic, simultaneously creating a buffer state and stirring up
into the Periphery, the battle against the pirates lasted three secessionist feelings throughout the Inner Sphere. Despite dis-
days . Despite their numerical advantage, the ComStar troops agreements between the two parties-the Combine did not
lacked their opponents ' experience and, though eventually vic- release all the worlds it had promised to, and ComStar "down-
torious, lost a disproportionate number of personnel. graded" the 'Mechs and equipment provided to the DCMS-both
sides deemed the results basically satisfactory.
Despite this near-disaster, ComStar's military policy over
the next few years continued in a similar vein. The most notable However, House Davion realized the Draconis Combine
destabilizing efforts occurred during the Fourth Succession was reacting to information that could only have been pr~)Vided
War: the destruction of the Sarna HPG Station, which gave by ComStar and launched a major operation against ComStar
ComStar the pretext to interdict the Federated Suns, and the ill- operatives. Lasting for almost a decade, Davion's "Operation
fated raid on the NAIS. Neither had the desired impact of end- Flush" became a vicious and bloody secret war, costing the
ing House Davion's campaign against the Capellan lives of many on both sides. Although the Com Guards
Confederation, though the Sarna operation provided an oppor- remained under ROM's operational command during the early
tunity that forever changed ComStar and the Inner Sphere. months of the conflict, the Readjustment Act of 3035 placed
Citing the vulnerability of HPG stations, and as part of the con- ROM under the Com Guards' control. Though some Davion
ditions for lifting the communications interdiction, Primus operations against the Com Guards personnel took place, this
Myndo Waterly persuaded Prince Hanse Davion to allow ensured the neutrality of the order's armed forces. Without this·
ComStar troops to be stationed at every HPG station in the change in command, it is possible that ComStar and the
Federated Suns. Within a dozen years,every Successor State Federated Suns could have become embroiled in a full-scale
had come to similar arrangements , giving Com Guard troops, shooting war.

13

The new Precentor Martial, an experienced ex-general WHEELS WITHIN WHEELS
named Anastasius Focht who was introduced to the order by In February 3058, the Word of Blake struck at Terra, smug-
Theodore Kurita, reorganized units and instigated training pro-
grams. He also encouraged the Guards to take on a humani- gling troops onto the world and then, backed by sabotage and
tarian role, carrying out disaster relief and helping to beat back assassination, disabling the garrison. With the Clans viewed as
pirates. The image of the Com Guards as "white knights" was the more pressing concern, the Precentor Martial chose not to
a major public-relations victory and triggered a massive launch a counterassault at that time. Instead, he sent ComStar
upsurge in recruitment. troops to block the Jade Falcon incursion of 3058, in which
Khan Marthe Pryde led her troops into the heart of the Lyran
THE CLAN WARS Alliance t6 prove their vitality. Ironically for Pryde, this assault
The Explorer Corps vessel Outbound Light accidentally trig- prompted the Whitting Conference on Tharkad in November
3058, the goal of which was to find an end to the Clan threat.
gered the return of Kerensky's descendants when it discovered This was enacted as Operations Bulldog and Serpent, which led
one of their homeworlds in 3048. ComStar learned of the to the destruction of Clan Smoke Jaguar and a shift in Clan pol-
arrival of the invaders in the summer of 3049, eventually send- itics that brought an end to the invasion. Additionally, the refor-
ing the Precentor Martial as an ambassador. The two parties mation of the Star League by the attendees was a major psy-
reached an agreement: The Clans would not interfere in our chological weapon against the Clans; as the victor of Tukayyid,
operations, and in turn ComStar would administer their cap- Precentor Martial Focht was the logical choice to head the mil-
tured territories as a neutral party. From the point of view of the itary operations and thus became de facto head of the reborn
Successor States, ComStar collaborated with the invaders, Star League Defense Force .
though the order sought only to maintain its neutrality. In truth,
however, ComStar did provide the Clans with information on ComStar troops participated in both missions, providing the
Inner Sphere targets, though this came to a sudden end in late second-largest contingent in Operation Bulldog, which resulted in
3051 when the Primus and Precentor Martial learned of the the ejection of Clan Smoke Jaguar from the Draconis Combine,
Clans' ultimate goal: Terra. as well as providing troops and WarShips to the Serpent mission
against the Jaguar capital of Huntress. The troops acquitted
Neither side wanted to see Terra shattered by the battle to themselves well, and the mission was an outstanding success .
possess it, and instead they agreed upon a proxy battle on the Not only were the Jaguars destroyed, but the Clan Grand Council
Rasalhague world of Tukayyid. If the Clans won, ComStar would also formally agreed to end the invasion following a combat trial
grant them Terra and become the Clans' administrative arm . If on Strana Mechty. One of the few sour notes was that the Com
ComStar won, the Clans would halt their invasion for fifteen Guard troops lost the trial, though they were facing tough oppo-
years. Every last Com Guard unit-some seventy-two divisions sition in the form of Pryde's Jade Falcons.
(the equivalent of 144 combined-arms regiments)-deployed to
Tukayyid and faced off against twenty-five Clan Galaxies . The Prince Victor Steiner-Davion had command during
largest engagement since Kerensky's liberation of Terra, the Operation Bulldog and, together with Focht; led a relief force to
Battle of Tukayyid lasted for twenty-one days and exacted a hor- Huntress. But his long absence gave his sister, Katherine, an
rendous toll on the Com Guards. 40 percent of the troops were opportunity to seize the throne of the Federated
killed in the engagement, and a larger number were injured . Commonwealth. However, Prince Victor was a well-respected
Even now, a decade later, the Com Guards stand at only 60 per- commander, and when Precentor Martial Focht chose to retire
cent of its pre-Tukayyid strength . Nevertheless, ComStar was at the Star League conference in November 3061, he named
victorious , and the Clans halted their invasion. the prince as his successor. Furthermore, the new First Lord,
Theodore Kurita, appointed Steiner-Davion commanding gener-
However, Primus Waterly did not have complete faith in the al of the SLDF, placing him at the head of two militaries.
Precentor Martial and, concurrent with the Battle of Tukayyid,
launched her own "Operation Scorpion." Intended to bring both However, this recruitment from outside the order caused
the Inner Sphere and Clans to their knees with a total communi- resentment among many in the Com Guards, prompting a num-
cations interdiction, it was a complete failure, and the Precentor ber of personnel to retire or defect to the Word of Blake, where
Martial had little option but to remove the Primus. However, this they formed the Expatriate faction. Although nowhere near the
in turn triggered a schism within the order, leading to the forma- scale of those in 3052, the defections are nonetheless prob-
tion of the Word of Blake, which fled to Gibson in the Free Worlds lematic, providing the Blakists with resources and information.
League. A number of officers and troops defected to the Blakists, Perhaps the most serious incident was the betrayal of the Titan
further degrading the strength of the Com Guards and allowing naval yards to Blakist forces. Despite this, the remaining Com
the rebels to build their own military. However, compared with the Guard forces fulfil their job admirably, both in their traditional
losses of Tukayyid, this was but a small trickle and, much to the roles and as peacekeepers in the Confederation-St. Ives dispute.
Com Guards' later chagrin, largely ignored .

14

ORGANIZATION AND deployment s-particularly around the Clan Occupation Zone-
PROCEDURES problematiC. No troops occupy the former Sixth or Seventh
Theaters, the troops fo rmerly assigned to those regions instead
Of all the Inner Sphere milit aries , the organization of the being deployed to bolste r the Jade Falcon and Ghost Bear bor-
ders. The borders of the Fifth and Eighth Theaters have been di s-
Com Guards is the most unusual, but one of the most practi- torted to account for the changed deployments.
cal. Although using Star League-vintage equ ip ment, the Com
Guards' structure has been built over the past 129 years with The largest fi eld units are divisions, roughly analogous to
a view to easy subdivision and deployment of troops. two regiments of combined-arms troops. However, unlike the

COMMANO STRUCTURE AND regiments of House militaries, divisions are rarely deployed
OPERATIONAL DEPLOYM E NT intact but rather are scattered across a group of worlds and
serve as "regional " forces . The size of these regions varies con-
Like most militaries, ComStar uses a pyramid command siderably, depending on their political situation and volatility. For
structure, radiating out from the political and mil itary HQ. At the exampl e, in the Chaos March the 366th Division is based on
head of the pyramid is the Precentor Martial, answerable only to Terra Fi rma but has Level III units deployed on Nanking, Zurich ,
the Primus and t he First Circuit, who serves as commander in Capolla, Acamar, and Arboris, while the 207th Division in the
chief of ComStar's armed forces , including those of ROM. Below Lyran Al liance has Level II units scattered across some twenty
the Precentor Martial are the six branch heads, precentors with worlds. Conversely, the 278th Division on Tukayyid remains
at least ten years' experience in the relevant arm. Principal int act, re ady to defend the world against aggression by any of
among these are the precentor of 'Mech forces, Katherine the remain ing invading Clans. Precentors or, occasionally, Demi-
Luarca; the precentor of armor forces, Ann a Gesicki; t he precen- Precentors command divisions.
tor of inf antry forces, Salvador Parish; and the precentor of naval
forces, Al ai n Beresick. However, with t he exception of Precentor Level III units, directly analogous to battalions save for the
Beresick, these senior officers have little involvement with day-to- use of combined arms , are the most common deployments in
day operations ; rather, they oversee procurement, recruitment, high-risk areas such as the Clan border. They are fully functioning
and trai ning fo r their respective services. Beresick, a veteran of mil itary units, complete with aerospace and logistiC support.
Task Force Serpent, prefers to command from the bridge of the However, Level II units, analogous to a demi-company or rein-
Cameron-class WarShip Invisible Truth. Li kewi se , the heads of fo rced lance, are the standard deployment on low-risk worlds.
the other two "branches "-Precentor ROM Victori a Parrdeau and Adepts may command both types of unit, although officers of
Director of Explorer Services Padraig 0 Bhaoil- oversee the day- Demi-Precentor rank are more common in Level III formations.

to-day operations of their commands. TRAINING
Twelve army commanders of precentor rank oversee mili- Unt il 3058 the majority of Com Guard personnel trained on

t ary operations in the Inner Sphere, though the sch ism and the Terra, at the Sandh urst Royal Military College or, more recent-
re-creation of the Star League have compl icated matters. Prior ly, at the re opened War College of Mars. Some warriors were
to the Clan invasion and the schi sm , ComStar divided the Inner taken in from the schools of the Great Houses or from existing
Sphere into twelve theaters co rrespondi ng to the positions on a milit ary units , but for security reasons the number of such
clock, each with an assigned army (Level V) mi litary unit. troops was strictly controlled. The loss of the Terran system to
However, our order's expulsion from the Free Worlds League and the Word of Bl ake isolated the Com Guards from their training
the need t o defend the Cl an border and deliver humanitarian aid fac ilities, fo rcing it to rely on secondary sources. Chief among
in the Chaos Ma rch have th rown this system into chaos. these were the training grounds on Tukayyid , but basic training
Exacerbating this is the Com

Guards ' rel ative weakness.

Before Tukayyid, each army

comprised six divisions, pro- COM GUARO ORGANIZATION AND RANK EGUIVALENCIES
viding sufficient troops to

meet all commitments in the Level Size Com Guard Rank SLDF Equivalent
theater. However, the Com
Guards ' post-Tu kayyid deploy- Levell 1 unit (,Mech, etc.) Acolyte or Adept Soldier
ment numbers only fifty divi- Level II 6 units Adept Lieutenant
sions, reducing the number of Level III 36 units Adept or Demi-Precentor Major
divisions per army to four Level IV 216 units Demi-Precentor or Precentor Lieutenant General
(except fo r Fourth Army, which Level V 864-1,296 units Precentor General
still cont ai ns six) and maki ng Com Guard Variable Precentor Martial Commanding General

15

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map of the Inner Sphere

© 3062 COMSTAR CARTOGRAPHIC CORPS

had to be performed elsewhere. Plans were made for a new is in gold, including broad gold cuffs. Accompanying this is a
school, the Focht War College, but until that site opened in the powder-blue cape. Again trimmed in gold,! with a gold hood, the
fall of 3060 the Com Guards had to rely on the good graces of cut of the cape varies for precentors and Demi-Precentors, the
several House academies . former adopting a more rounded cut. Similarly, headgear varies
between the two ranks-precentors wear a blue-and-black fl at
* * *Transmission Altered * * * cap, while Demi-Precentors , more often deployed in the field ,
use a less formal kepi that hangs down to protect the wearer's
"Seek you the difficult roads that present choices and dangers. neck. Both complete their uniform with black boots, a black
They are the driving forces needed to bring victory. " belt, and a saber.

* * *Alteration Ended * * * FIELD DRESS
Unlike the dress uniform, field dress varies by service
Like Sandhurst and the War Academy before it, the Focht
War College teaches a wide range of combat skills , but unlike branch, adapting to meet the needs of individual warriors.
most Successor State schools, it also teaches cooperation and MechWarriors, pilots, and armor crews wear white silk-skin
interdependence between service arms. Having lost most of its
teaching staff in the Word of Blake assault, the FWC's early trousers , gold cool-mesh boots, and a lightweight blue-and-
years have proved problematic . However, with the aid of the white "torsotube" cooling vest. All dissipate heat in combat,
Star League member states-the facility is a jOint venture with and despite their light weight, the vest and boots are superior
the reborn Star League-standards are improving rapidly. to those used by the Successor State militaries. MechWarriors
Indeed, less than two years after its first intake of recruits, the simply add a lightweight neurohelmet to the outfit, but armor
FWC is already winning a reputation for the depth and realism crews also wear a padded blue jacket, white trousers, and
of its program . The college begins offering advanced courses heavy black boots over the cooling gear, intended to protect
th is year, spearheaded by a new Gunslinger program to teach them from the battering to which vehicle crews are exposed.
the one-on-one combat style used by the Clans. Similarly, pilots wear a white pressure suit, complete with inte-
gral air supply and maneuvering pack. The pilot's helmet con-
COLOR SCHEMES tains neuroreceptors and a sophisticated HUD system .
Unlike House militaries, where most regiments have
Infantry field dress is similar in many ways to the dress uni-
evolved a specific color scheme, the Com Guards simply paint form of adepts and acolytes, comprising close-fitting trousers
t heir vehicles white for official occasions and use appropriate and jerkin. Although the uniform retains a hood , the cape is
camouflage for combat. removed for practicality. Similarly, the colors of infantry field
dress are more muted, usually charcoal gray or occasionally tra-
UNIFORMS, INSIGNIA ditional camouflage patterns. At the time of the Word of Blake
AND DECORATIONS invasion, ComStar scientists were working on an infantry uniform
that used mimetic-color-shifting-fabrics, though this research
Like all Inner Sphere militaries, the Com Guards use a range was thought lost during the evacuation from Terra in 3058.
of uniforms, dependent on rank, branch, and circumstances. All Shockingly, the Word of Blake recovered that technology, though
are practical, a far cry from the pre-reformation years, but are to date the only practical application has been in the Purifier
easily distinguishable from those of other militaries. Adaptive battle armor. The uniform of technicians is very similar
to that of infantry but lacks the hood and is generally white.
DRESS UNIFORM
Dress uniforms in the Com Guards are broken into two ROBES
In some situations neither the dress uniform nor fiel d
groups: those for junior officers and the rank and file (adepts
and acolytes) and those for senior officers (precentors and dress is practical. In these informal conditions, some Com
Demi-Precentors) . Guard warriors wear simple robes akin to regular ComStar per-
sonnel . These are color-coded to denote rank: red for precen-
The dress uniform of adepts and acolytes comprises white, tors, green for Demi-Precentors, yellow for adepts, and white for
close-fitting trousers and jerkin, made of resilient twill. This acolytes. Although entitled to wear red, the Precentor Martial
material is waterproof, insulated against heat and cold, and typically wears white robes . However, many Com Guard warriors
resistant to wear and tear. The cuffs and collar are trimmed in choose not to wear robes and instead use white fatigues.
gold, as is the hooded white cape. Completing the outfit are a
gold cummerbund-like belt and white-and-gold boots. On pro- INSIGNIA
cessions , such personnel carry a decorative spear or pike. Although dress uniform or robe color often shows rank

The officer dress uniform is more akin to that of regular within the Com Guards, all branches also wear a rank patch on
militaries, comprising powder-blue trousers and a smock-style the right shoulder of their fieJd uniform and on the front of their
top. Save for the collar, which is trimmed in red, trim on the top

17

helmets. This patch depicts the ComStar logo in white, with bor- insign ia of the Sta r League, hung from variously colored cam-
der color indicating rank: red for precentors; a mix of white , pa ign ribbons. Troops who fought in Operation Bulldog wear the
blue, red, and yellow for Demi-Precentors; solid blue for adepts ; medal with a white ribbon, with silver bars bearing the planet's
and no border at all for acolytes. name for each engagement. Those who fought as part of Task
Force Serpent use a blOOd-red ribbon, again with silver bars
A collar pin further denotes rank on the fie ld and dress uni- bearing the names of each battle participated in. Troops who
forms. Senior officers use the basic ComStar insignia , in gold fought in the Gre at Refusal on Strana Mechty add a black bar.
for precentors and silver for Demi-Precentors. The pins for Last ly, troops who participated in SLDF peace-keeping opera-
junior ranks are also in silver, but with a square black enamel tions in the Chaos March or St. Ives Compact are entitled to
backing for adepts and a black enamel triangle fo r aco lytes. wear a version with a two-t one green ribbon .

The Greek letter corresponding to branch appears in the The Precentor's Sword
eye of the rank patch and as a silver pin on the left collar. Unit The Precentor' s Sword is a dagger-shaped pin, awarded by
patches, unique to each division, are worn below the ran k
patch. the Pri mus or Precentor Martial as a medal of honor.

DECORATIONS The Focht Star of Honor
The Com Guards have traditionally had little call fo r deco- A silver, twelve-pointed star mounted on a red-and-white

rations, but Tukayyid and the following years have seen a num- ribbon , t his award is given for acts of extreme valor and tradi-
ber come into use . tionally confers upon the recipient promotion to the next rank
or five years seniority if alre ady a precentor.
Tukayyid Campaign Ribbons
Every member of the Com Guards who served on Tukayyid Sinclair Wings
An award specifically for aerospace pilots, the Sinclair
during the twenty-one-day battle against the Clans is entit led to
wear a campaign ribbon on the left bre ast of the ir dress uni- Wings commemorate the valor and sacrifice of Adept Charles
fo rm. Each ribbon is two centimeters long. A silver sta r on the Sinclair on Tukayyid. Pilots who demonstrate bravery above and
ribbon indicates the wearer was wounded during the confl ict, beyond t he call of duty may receive this award, which takes the
whi le a black star indicates the defeat of a Clan BattleMech or form of a set of golden wings spreading from a sword.
fighter. Many veterans wear multiple stars, and a few wear mUl-
tiple ribbons, indicating they faced several Clans. When t he COM GUARD
Nova Cats joined the Star League, the Com Guards offered to PERSONALITIES
discontinue the Nova Cat campaign ribbon , but Khan Santin
West argued against the motion, stating that it would be dis- PRECE N TOR MARTIAL PRINCE
honorable to divest the ComStar warriors of t heir hard-won VICTOR STEINER·DAVION
spoi ls.
The first-born son of Pri nce Hanse Davion of the Federated
Star League Awards Suns and Mel issa Steiner of the Lyran Commonwealth, Prince
The resurrection of the Star League and ComStar's close Victor was born to rule t he Federated Commonwealth. However,
like his uncle Ian Davion befo re him, Victor was more a warrior
ties to t he new SLDF have prompted t he creat ion of severa l new than a st atesman, havi ng f ought the Clans on Trell1, Twycross,
awards for Com Guard troops serving as part of the SLD F. All Alyina and Teniente during the Clan invasion. He also orches-
take t he form of a two-centimeter si lver Cameron Star, the trated the "grand all iance " that moved against the Jade Falcons
on Coventr y an d subsequently proposed the Whitting
TUKAVVID CAMPAIGN RIBBONS Conference that led to the reformat ion of the Star League and,
through Operations Bulldog, Serpent and Hunter, the end of the
Color Clan Cl an th reat.

White Diamond Shark However, his two-year absence gave his sister, Katheri ne ,
Green Jade Falcon an opportunity to usurp the New Avalon throne . Though recent
Sky blue with white horizontal stripe Ghost Bear events have shown Katherine' s grip is tenuous at best, Prince
Midnight blue Nova Cat Victor has disavowed any intent ion of moving against his sister,
Gray Smoke Jaguar stating he has no desire to subject his people to that bitterest
Black and blue horizontal stripe Steel Viper of conflicts , civil wa r.
Scarlet Wolf
Seemingly cast into the po!itical wilderness, Prince Victor's
appoi ntment as the new Precentor Marti al of Com Star and sub-
sequent ly the commanding general of the SLDF came as a

18

... .,

-" . ~

.... . . ~'

~ 'P:,o. • ' .~

shoc k t o t he Inner Sphere. Victor's ascension has not been uni- on holding back the Clans, even to the extent of allowing the
vers ally popular, and he is worki ng to stem the flow of disaf- Blakists to retain control of Terra after their 3058 invasion, pre-
fected person nel leaving the Com Guards or, worse, defecting ferring to deal with the Jade Falcon incursion on Coventry and
to the Word of Blake . Operation Bulldog. Focht accompanied the SLDF relief force to
Huntress and Strana Mechty, where he was profoundly moved
FORMER PRECENTOR MARTIAL by the sacrifice of the SLDF troops .
ANASTASIUS FOCHT
Though long expected, his retirement in November 3061
Little is known about An astasius Focht's life before he was a surprise , coming as it did at a crucial juncture in Star
joined Com Sta r, save t hat he is Lyran by birth and had a long League affairs: the election of a new First Lord. However, in
military caree r. He entered service wit h the order in the 3030s; doing so, and in allowing Victor Davion to cast the vote that
he later became Precentor ROM and, in 3043, the Com Guards ' doomed his sister's bid for the position, Focht remained above
first Pre centor Martial . When the Cl ans invaded the Inner the political infighting that has plagued the Inner Sphere since
Sphere, he was a natu ral ambassador to Kerensky's militaris- the Clan defeat.
t ic descendants , becoming a cl ose associate of Ulric Kerensky.
Since his retirement Focht has served as an adviser to his
Focht planned and led th e batt le on Tukayyid, as well as successor, but he has also devote d considerab le efforts to writ-
mastermi nding t he reformation of ComStar that resulted in the ing his memoirs and researching several political and military
schism with the Word of Blake . His efforts remained focused treatises he has long planned to write.

19

FIRST ARMV V·KAPPA:
THE BEAR MAULERS

On Tukayyid, the First Army contested the Ghost Bear landings, leaving the defense of the objec-
tives to the 103rd Division and the reserve Fourth Army. In many regards the plan was successful,
halting the Bear drive on Luk . However, it came at considerable cost, and the Clan forces captured
Spanac and achieved a marginal victory.

Rebuilding the army was a long, time-consuming process, not helped by Katherine Luarca's pro-
motion to head Com Guard 'Mech forces in 3053. Although badly damaged, the First Army was far
from the worst affected by the battle, and though the army was also weakened by defections to the
Word of Blake, its losses were small compared with other Com Guard units. Indeed, the army lost a
larger number of troops in the post-Tukayyid reorganization of forces-the whole Twelfth Division was

transferred to bolster the Sixth Army.
Having been stationed in the Draconis Combine for several decades, the "Bear Maulers" have

established strong ties with the local communities. The army's recruitment efforts in the Combine
have shown marked improvements since Operation Bulldog. This has helped to stave off further defec-
tions, since the people of the Combine have followed Theodore Kurita's lead in supporting the new
Precentor Martial.
The insignia of the First Army shows a severed bear paw before the ComStar insignia.
OFFICERS
Robinson-born Katrina Troth seems a strange choice as commander of the Com Guards' principal Combine Division, since her
upbringing in the staunchly anti-Combine Draconis March of the Federated Commonwealth initially biased her against the Kuritan
people. However, her long period of service with the unit-she joined the Ninety-First Division as a MechWarrior in 3033-has over-
come this prejudice. Repeatedly decorated, Troth quickly climbed the ladder of command, becoming precentor and executive officer
of the army in 3045. She was the natural choice to take command after Tukayyid.
FORCES
BattleMechs form a third of the combat forces in the First Army. Many of these are old Star League designs like the Champion
and Sentinel, though DCMS designs like the Wolf Trap and Avatar are not uncommon. A similar pattern exists among vehicles, with
Burke and Tokugawa tanks operating side by side.

20

91stDivision (The Luk-y 91st IV-eta) ~ 308th Division (Winged Divinity IV-xi)
Division/Elite/Fanatical Division/Regular/Reliable
co: Precentor IV Ernst Keller
co: Precentor XII Rachal Drake The Remnants III-mu : Demi-Precentor X Rebecca
Iriarte
The Bulldog's Bite III-iota: Demi-Precentor X Dieter Lineholders III-xi: Demi-Precentor II Donald Blair
Fischer New Vanguard III-nu: Demi-Precentor IV Kevin Mese
Bear Baiters III-eta : Demi-Precentor IX James Lech The Dragon's Allies III-xi : Precentor I James Willson
Lost Boys III-theta: Demi-Precentor VI Gayle Morici Angel of Mercy III-omicron: Demi-Precentor X Alfred Steil
Defenders of Olasin III-epsilon : Demi-Precentor VII Robert Extreme Warfare III-pi : Demi-Precentor IX Armand Lavalle
Mooi Overrun by the Ghost Bears on the outskirts of Spanac,
The Fierce III-eta: Adept XV Anna Paoli the 308th was reduced to little more than a Level III unit, but
Broken Promises III-zeta: Demi-Precentor III Raymond Pifke working in conjunction with the 103rd Division, it captured the
Although successful in defending Luk, th e Ninety-fi rst were Ghost Bears' principal supply depot and halted their second
less fortunate at Spanac , where they were overrun and lost drive on Luk. However, the unit's losses were so grievous that
their supply depots. Although badly bloodied , th e unit harried the Precentor Martial agonized over whether to permanently
the Clan defenders for the remainder of the battl e. Since then, merge it with another division. In the end, the 308th was
the division's commanders have carried out numerous exercis- allowed to retain its independence , though it took almost five
es, both internally and against other ComStar and DC MS un its. years for the unit to return to full strength . The unit subse-
In 3059, the division participated in Operation Bulldog, quently played a key role in extracting a Smoke Jaguar defector,
forming part of Victor Davion's "Dream Team" against the MechWarrior Trent , who gave ComStar the Exodus Road .
Smoke Jaguars on Schuyler. The unit's fourth Level III took a
number of casualties at Olasin Ford , but overall losses were When Precentor Karl Karter died on Maldonado in 3058,
light. Elements of the unit therefore traveled to Huntress as his XO, Ernst Keller, was the logical choice to command the divi-
part of t he relief force, and two warriors from the divi sion par- sion . He immediately found a major challenge: securing the
ticipated in the Great Refusal on Strana Mechty. The unit is cu r- supply lines for Operation Bulldog. Ironically, the division
rently deployed in Level III-sized units on worlds in the missed out on the fighting, despite the Smoke Jaguar attack on
Combine 's Dieron Military District. its home base, Pesht.
The insignia of the Ninety-first pictures a pair of white dice,
both showing sixes. A winged sword before a black disc serves as the insignia
of the 308th.
211th Division (The Martial's Hunters IV-phi)
Division/Veteran/Reliable ~ 103rd Division (Kimmelry's Raiders IV-nu)
Division/Regular/Reliable
co: Precentor XIII Marvin Daeuble co: Precentor XIV Styven Kimmelry
The Saviors of Spanac III-mu: Demi-Precentor X Bri an
Empire Builders III-phi: Demi-Prece ntor II Terry Moo re
Brinkman Styven' s Marauders Ill-nu: Demi-Precentor X William Pl ath
The Li nebreakers III-xi: Demi-Precentor V Chang Shi m
Clanbusters III-tau: Demi-Precentor IV Nathan Camras Sound and Fury III-nu : Demi-Precentor IV Elvira Vere
Quick Dispatch III-psi : Demi-Precentor VI Erin Elli s Bearskinners III-omicron: Demi-Precentor VII Ashfaq Ahmed
The Bear Trap III-sigma: Demi-Precentor IX David Greenf ield Glory Hounds III-lambda: Demi-Precentor III Anthony Dolan
Limitless Valor III-phi : Demi-Precentor X Ann e Rizzuto Precentor Kimmelry took command of the 103rd in 3049
Blake's Knights III-omega : Demi-Precentor VIII Dorothy and defended Spanac. Grossly outmatched by the Ghost Bears,
the divi sion was ordered to withdraw, but it extracted so me
Tome k small measure of revenge by helping destroy the Bears' princi-
The 211th has the smallest proportion of 'Mech forces in pal supply depot, stalling the Clan advance.
t he First Army, with only thirty-five ' Mechs scattered th roughout
t he unit. However, vehicles and infantry are better-suited to the The 103rd has the second-largest contingent of 'Mechs in
division's widespread deployment. the First Army but has a very small armor complement, deploy-
The largest deployment is on Benjamin , which serve s as ing instead the equivalent of two Level Ills of mech an ized
home to an entire battalion (Level III) . No other deployments infantry. Most of the unit 's equipment is of Star League vin-
are above two Level lis, and the majority are composed of a sin- tage , though Combine-produced Maxim transports have
gle Level II demi-company assigned to protect the planetary entered service over the past three years.
HPG station. With many garrison sites regarded as hard ship
postings, Precentor Daeuble has had to work hard to maintain The insignia of the 103rd shows crossed swords before
hi s troops' morale and combat edge. ASSignm ent s rotate con- the ComStar emblem .
t inuously, and few warriors have to spend more th an six month s
in anyone posting.
The insign ia of the 211th depicts the silhouette of a gun
dog pointing at its prey.

21

2ND ARMY V·MU: THE IRON WARRIORS

Occupying the two-to-three slice of the ComSta r "clock"-the underbelly of the Draconis
Combine and its border wi th th e Fede rated Commonwealth-the Second Army has seen little

combat save for Tukayyid . Unli ke ma ny armies , which faced off intact against a single Clan,
the Second 's best divi sions bolstered other armies, in all facing every Clan save the Ghost
Bears. The army lost only a single unit on Tukayyid, the 121st, but with the army regarded
as overstre ngth a secon d division, the 321st, was reassigned to the Twelfth Army in 3053.

The insignia of th e Second Army is a Black Knight-class BattleMech , its right arm raised
in a salute .
OFFICERS
One of the youngest army commande rs at Tukayyid, Precentor Alexander Crocus is now only
fifty-two. A formidable battlefield strategist and administrator, he has worked hard to keep his forces
in fighting trim. Fortunate ly, Crocus ' contact s-he is the only pre-Tukayyid army commander remaining in
his post-ensure his troops do not want for supplies. Surprisingly for someone of his seniority, Crocus harbors Precentor Martial
Davion no ill will and has taken an active role in ensu ring the loyalty of hi s troops .
Seventy-one years old, Precentor Vincent Wollam is a strange choice for the army' s executive officer, but the former comman-
der of the 282nd Division has proved his worth time and again. A veteran of t he FWLM, Wollam fought in the Marik Civil War and
the Fourth Succession War before fleeing the League in the wa ke of Janos Marik' s assassi nation. He joined ComStar in 3038 and
quickly rose through the ranks. Badly injured when t he Wolf Spiders shattered his command on Tukayyid, he was forced to retire
from active duty, but his experience is invaluable ;
FORCES
The army's equipment is rumored to be the best of any Com Gua rd formation. However, the distribution of material to the wide-
spread troop deployments is patchy. The Eighty-First and Seventy-Seventh have the highest concentration of new equipment, princi-
pally of ComStar manufacture but also including Combi ne- and FedCom-p roduced material. But many units of the 301st use hand-
me-downs from other divisions, and some even have pre-Clan War equipment.

22

8ist Division (The Defenders of Joje IV-kappa) The Wolf Handlers III-phi : Demi-Precentor VI Carol
Division/Veteran/Reliable Burgeson

co: Precentor XVI Randolph Riggins The Minutemen III-phi: Demi-Precentor IV Gl en Pete rson
The Muzzlers III-upsilon: Dem i-Precento r IX Kara Sand
The Clawed III-theta: Demi-Precentor X Burton Gale Kni ghts of Truth III-tau : Demi-Precentor III Mark We ir
Extreme Prejudice III-kappa: Demi-Precentor I Ke rmit Reed Formerly the executive officer of the Eighty-second,
Applied Force III-iota : Demi-Precentor IV Will iam Grawin Prece ntor Zhi-Heng rece ived an unexpected command promo-
Cat Tamers III-kappa: Demi-Precentor III Lori Bielawski t ion when hi s predecessor resigned following the installation of
Breath of Hope III-mu: Demi-Precentor V Carla Walther Victor Davio n as Precentor Martial. Prece ntor Julius
Boiling Point III-lambda: Demi-Precentor VII Anthony Rostinberger's res ignation shocked the unit, and morale,
already suffe ring from the unit's omission from Operation
Martino Bulldog, is at an all-time low. Almost an entire Level III unit has
The Eighty-first Division was attached to the Eighth Army on resigned over the past five months, a handful of whom have
Tukayyid and fought Clan Nova Cat at Joje, sust aining grievous joined the Word of Blake. The majority, however, followed their
losses. Only a merger with other equ ally damaged units saved former leader to Outreach, where they formed a mercenary unit
the division from being disbanded. The years since Tukayyid ca ll ed The Shield that is currently seeking its first contract.
have seen the unit's fighting strength enh anced considerably, The insignia of the Eighty-second shows a black circle bear-
with 'Mech forces almost doubled. This is ref lected in the unit' s ing the red number 82. Over this is a curtai n made from a white
deployment in Level III-sized units on the worlds surrounding spider's web .
Formalhaut. Unusually, this includes deployments in two
states , the Draconis Combine and the Federated ~ 77th Division (The Monsters IV-theta)
Commonwealth, as well as the Chaos March. Precentor Riggins Division/Regular/Reliable
recentl y reported a number of protests aga inst t he Com Guard CO: Precentor VIII Jollings Rajii
presence in the Federated Commonwe alth . However, it is The Gunslingers III-eta: Demi-Precentor V Benito
unclear how much of this is Archon Princess Katherin e Steiner- Juarez
Davion's response to the installation of her brother as The Magnificent Few III-theta: Demi-Precentor IV Harry
Precentor Martial, and how much can be attributed to the Crui ksh ank
FedCom population's distrust of our order. Spoils of War III-zeta: Demi-Precentor X Vladim ir Zilbert
The insignia of the Eighty-first shows a marbl e wall bea rin g Bright Horizon III-theta: Demi-Precentor II Rita Barth
t he ComStar emblem. The Sto necutters III-iot a: Demi-Prece ntor IX Fivel Calif
Valor and Arms III-kappa: Demi-Precentor III Anne Wente
4> 30ist Division (Shark Bait IV-phi) Barely a Level III of troops from the Seventy-seventh sur-
Division/Veteran/Fanatical vived Clan Jade Falcon 's assault on Tukayyi d. The unit's fate
co : Precentor VI Fibber Walton hu ng in the bala nce for more t han a year as more troops defect-
The Shark Skinners III-phi: Demi-Precentor X Ada ed to t he Wo rd of Bla ke, but as the situati on stabil ized,
Howes ComStar dec ided to rebuild the unit. Much of the unit 's equip-
Barbed Hook III-psi: Demi-Precentor V Rita Antunovich ment came fro m caches on Terra, but a large propo rtion was
High Rollers III-phi: Demi-Precentor VI Bria n Splitt newly manufactured , and designs like t he Nexus and Raijin
Strength Of Union III-chi: Demi-Precentor V Barbara Wraas have become increa singly com mon. Indeed, conta ining the
Roil ing Waters III-upsilon : Demi-Precentor II Ba ldev Pate l equivalent of a full regiment of 'Mechs, the Seventy-seventh is,
Focht's Gladiators III-tau: Demi-Precentor X Masaru Marui on paper, the most powe rful unit in the Second Army.
Based on An Ting, the 301st are respons ible fo r a large
portion of the Spinward Draconis Combine along the FedCom Alth ough officia lly intended only as a garri son for ComStar
border. The unit's widespread dispersal has had a seri ous HPG sites on and around Prosperina (inc luding a numbe r in the
im pact on the supply chain, and eve rything from am munition to Federated Commonwealth) the division has re peatedly had to
mail takes an excessively long time to arrive. With the reduct io n defuse incidents between rogue warriors of t he Draconis
of the Clan threat, the Precentor Martial ordered the diversion Combine and the Federated Co mmonwealth. Tensions have
of vessels to improve the 301st 's logisti cs, wh ich has seen a increased si nce Katheri ne Stei ner-Davi on became head of the
marked improvement in mora le. Commonwealth. However, the Precentor Martial has so far
refrai ned fro m inc reasing the num ber of troops deployed in his
A giant hook with a Mercury Battl eMech as bait serves as form er rea lm , fe aring such an action would on ly deepen the cri-
the unit's insignia. sis.

4> 82nd Division (The Web Cutters IV-pi) The insignia of t he Seventy-seventh shows a pa ir of golden
Division/Elite/Questionable eyes on a bl ack disc.
CO: Precentor III Xue Zhi-H eng
The Enlightened III-chi: Demi-Precentor I Michael Azad
Divergent Paths III-psi : Demi-Prece ntor II Faina Lerner

23

3RD ARMV V-LAMBDA:
THE EMERALD FALCONEERS

The principal force deployed against the Jade Falcons on Tukayyid, the Third Army has one of the
best reputations in the Com Guards, which has been further enhanced by participation in Operations

Bulldog and Serpent.
The Third Army is charged with protecting worlds in the three-to-four slice of the ComStar

"clock," but it is vastly understrength. Two divisions are scattered across a handful of worlds near
Terra to maintain order and beat off the predation of the Word of Blake and other groups, which
leaves only two divisions to protect sites throughout the Federated Commonwealth.
The insignia of the Third Army shows a hooded green falcon perched on a black gauntlet.
OFFICERS
Precentor Alexander Durbin rose to command of the Third Army after Tukayyid; although
an excellent field commander, he has proved less adept at bureaucratic wrangling.

Fortunately, his executive officer, Precentor Stephanie Lavelle, has kept the unit running smoothly and is the true power behind the
Third Army.

Upon his return to the Inner Sphere, the commander of the Second Division, Regis Grandi, received the Star of Honor and a
promotion to full precentor for his efforts on Huntress. His courage and leadership are held up as the epitome of a Com Guard offi-
cer, though Grandi is uneasy with the adulation he has received and would prefer to concentrate on rebuilding his shattered unit.
FORCES

The Third Army is very 'Mech heavy, with such forces accounting for almost half its combat strength. Unusually, this is viewed
as a disadvantage in the unit's principal task of securing ComStar facilities in the Federated Commonwealth. Only in the Chaos
March-based Eleventh and Second Divisions is this firepower fully exploited.

24

11th Division (The Wing Clippers IV-beta) Epsilon Indi (the unit's headquarters) and Bristo l in the
Division/Elite/Fanatical Federated Commonwealth .

co: Precentor IX Sh arron Tang The insignia of the Second Divisi on is a simple white di sc
inscribed with the word "Remem ber."
Never Surrender III-alpha : Demi-Precentor X Joseph
Neven 323rd Division
Kiamba Cavalry III-beta: Demi-Precentor VII Stephen (The Groundhogs of Tukayyid IV-nu)
Schesnol Division/Regular/Reliable
Full Moon III-gamma: Demi-Precentor II Nicole Grazi an i CO: Precentor VIII Charles Reanner
Ivory Terrors III-beta: Demi-Precentor IV Oleg Zobninger Two at a Time III: Demi-Precentor I Larry Gostom ski
The Chain Rattlers III-alpha : Demi-Precentor III Em ily Baj ko Dinju Warriors III: Demi-Precentor X Arcelia Huss
Deputies of Truth III-gamma: Demi-Precentor IV Andy Blood Trail III: Demi-Precentor IX Allan Jepsen
Dumasius Torch of Honor III: Demi-Precentor III Piotr Maj
Second only to the 472nd Division (Invader Galaxy) in the From the Ashes III: Demi-Precentor X Beverly Sha inne
number of ' Mechs deployed, the Eleve nth provides a sol id Against the Wall III: Demi-Precentor VII Renato Calip
defense against the Word of Blake's ambition in the Coreward Formed by the merger of the 322nd and 323rd Divi sions
region of the Chaos March. During Operation Bulldog, element s after Tukayyid , the Groundhogs are one of the few units to have
of the Fourth and Fifth Armies deployed to t hat region, and t he fo ught multip le Cl ans on Tu kayyid and are widely respected and
Eleventh participated in the destruction of the Smoke Jaguar's ho nored. Bot h un its fought the Smoke Jaguars, while the latter
362nd Assault Cluster on Kiamba. The unit spent three months al so fought the Di amond Sharks. Both units were shattered,
refitting on Tukayyid before returning t o their Caph headquar- and Com Sta r decided to merge the more intact but leaderless
ters. 323rd with the smaller 32 2nd, which retained comm and integri-
They immediately found themsetves embroiled in a se ri es ty. However, the merger was insufficient to bring the unit back
of clashes with Word of Blake troops, though since Cameron St. to full strength, and though some positions were fill ed by sur-
Jamais took control of the Blakist military, such incidents have vivors of destroyed or disbanded units , the vast majo rity were
reduced noticeably. Despite this, Precentor Tang has kept he r new recruits, and the unit's overall expe ri ence level plum met-
forces on high alert, fearing some sort of surprise attack. ed.
The unit's insignia is an ornate curved blade upon a white The unit' s insignia shows a groundhog clutching a hand
shield. gre nade .

2nd Division (The Falconeers IV-xi ) ~ 299th Division
Division/Elite/Fanatical (The Battle Smokers IV-lambda)
Division/Regular/Questionable
co: Precentor II Regis Grandi CO : Demi-Precentor X Peter Fedt
Falcon Hunters III-kappa: Demi-Precentor IV Jason El m
Living Word III-nu : Demi-Precentor VII Hector BleSSi ngs of Truth III-lambda: Adept XII Robert Schullo
Machabanski The Birdcallers III-mu: Demi-Precentor VI Walter Hayna
Hidden Hand Ill-mu: Demi-Precentor IV Sam Pul ciani The Hood and Jesses III-nu : Demi-Precentor II I Jan Ziolo
Dark Regret III-xi : Demi-Precentor X Judy Ge rambia The Fog of War III-lambda : Demi-Precentor VII Hadez Abero
The Profound III-omicron: Demi-Precentor IX Karen Victor Bad Ome ns III-iota: Adept IX Thomas Atkiss
Diogenes ' Search III-xi: Demi-Precentor III Carmen Schmidt De mi-Precentor Fedt, a veteran of Tuki"lyyid, has publicly
Madness With Method III-pi: Demi-Precentor IX Ashraf taken a strong stance against Precentor Martia l Davi on,
Abdulhadi although he has yet to defy Davion's orders . His greatest con-
Having honed its combat skills against the Steel Vi pe rs on cern is t hat the appointment damages ComStar's neut rality,
Tukayyid, the Second Division was Precentor Marti al Focht's es peci ally in th e Lyran Alliance and Federated Commonwea lt h.
first choice for Task Force Serpent. However, it was impract ical He fears that sh ould Katherine Steiner-Davion 's two re alms col-
to transport the entire division to the Jaguar homeworld. Of the lapse into chaos as is expected, Com Guard troops-including
eighty BattleMechs that went to Huntre ss, only seventee n Fedt' s New Avalon-based but wid ely di spersed 299th Division-
returned, and losses among the few aerospace, armor and will be sucked into a maelstrom of war. Davion has done all in
infantry sent there were even more severe . The Precentor hi s power to assure Fedt and other members of t he Com
Martial decorated every survivor of the mi ssion- some forty- Guards that he has forsaken his former titles, but t hey have
two personnel-making the unit the most decorated in the Com expressed doubts that the former prince will hold to hi s
Guards. promise should some great disaster occur.
Much ofthe time since then has bee n spent rebuild ing and
training troops. The Second remains marginally underst rength, The insign ia of the 299th Division is a black sil houette of
a result of leaving positions open for the Huntress survivors a Raijin standi ng before a stylized gray cloud.
wh ile many of them are on a leave of absence. Despite t his, the
unit has returned to active duty on a swath of worl ds between

25

4TH ARMY V·IOTA:
THE DEFENDERS OF HONOR

The Fourth Army occupies the fo ur-to-five slice of the ComStar "clock," more commonly known
as the Bryant Theater. Unti l 3057, t he arm y' s res pons ib ilitie s included the Federated
Commonwealth 's Sarna and Cape llan Marches, the St. Ives Compact, and the Spinward regions of
the Capellan Confederation . The Liao-M arik invasion of t he Sarna March threw the region into chaos,
increasing the burden on the Fourth and Fifth Armies . Despite numerous clashes with Blakist forces ,
the troops deployed to the Fourth Army were deemed sufficient until 3061 , when the escalating cri-
sis in the St. Ives Compact prompted t he Precentor Martial to order two experienced divisions from
the Twelfth Army, the 403rd and 321st, int o the region. They have been accepted into the Defenders of
Honor and have deployed to Nashuar and Warlock, res pectively. Publicly intended as Star League observers
to ensure the safety of St. Ives citi zens-and to safeguard ComStar's investment in the He/ios BattieMech lines
on Warlock-the divisions' secret goal was to hamper Sun Tzu Liao's aggression , though the Capellan Chancellor
shows no sign of reining in his troops .
A white shield bearing the ComStar emblem serves as the insignia of the Fourth Army.

OFFICERS
A graduate of the Nagelring Academy, Oscar Wetzel served with the Lyran Commonwealth Armed Forces in the Fourth

Succession War before joining a mercenary unit. In 3037 ComStar hired the Level III-strength unit and subsequently absorbed it.
Wetzel accepted a commission as an adept, commanding first a Level III and then an entire division on Tukayyid . His leadership and
valor earned him the Star of Honor, a promotion to precentor, and, eventually, the command of the Defenders in 3053 .

Precentor Wetzel is adept at small-unit tactics and favors a war of maneuvers over set-piece engagements. This preference for
finesse has earned Wetzel the call sign " Rapier," though many of his troops call him "Dueling Oscar."

FORCES
The two divisions from the Twelfth Army introduced a number of new 'Mech and vehicle designs into the Defenders-previously

dominated by mothballed Star League-era equipment-as well as examples of the Draconis Combine's Raiden and Kanazuchi battle
armors . The only army away from the Clan border t o deploy such suits, t he Fou rth are having to develop tactics for their use on the fly.

83rd Division (The White Cyclones lV-gamma) 166th Division (Wolf Bait IV-rho)
Division/Regular/Reliable Division/Green/Reliable
CO : Precentor XV Allyn Omlid CO: Precentor VIII Edward Revere
Eternal Truths III-epsilon: Demi-Precentor II Sol Kopp The Harried III-rho: Demi-Precentor VII Edmund
The Phantoms III-gamma: Demi-Precentor VI Edmund Rydz Sadlak
Green Machine III-alpha: Demi-Precentor X Vivian Soballe Numbing Chill III-sigma: Demi-Precentor IX Piotr Skorya
The Longshoremen 111·beta: Demi-Precentor VII Richard The Champions III-tau : Derrli-Precentor III Carrie Nieweem
Pales Pack Hunters III-rho: Demi-Precentor VIII James Dades
The Lion's Den III·delta : Demi-Precentor III Thomas Kyle Bloodbrothers III-omicron : Demi-Precentor II John Berg
Power Struggle III-gamma: Demi-Precentor V Tina Hanson The Visionaries II I-pi: Demi-Precentor X Terry Moody
Although brutalized by the Ghost Bears on Tukayyid , the Shattered by the Wolf Clan on Tukayyid, the 166th is the
Eighty-third Division was quickly brought back up to strength . least experienced unit in the Fourth Army. They have been fur-
Rather than returning to their old base on New Syrtis , they ther weakened by the resignation of Demi-Precentor Marita fol-
assumed the duty of garrisoning sites in the sensitive Terran lowing Victor Davion 's appointment as Precentor Martial.
Corridor. With the collapse of order in the region followi ng Ambitious but principled, Marita chose not to defect to the
Marik's Operation Guerrero , the Eighty-third has attempted to Word of Blake. Instead, she is believed to be on Outreach ,
provide some semblance of law and order in the regi on . seeki ng e mployment.
However, rather than Thomas Marik's or Sun Tzu Liao's agents, The insignia of the 166th Division shows a wolf's jaws
it is the Word of Blake that has posed the most problems for clOSing on an At /as BattleMech.
the Eighty-th ird.
The insignia of the Eighty-third Division depicts a white tor-
nado on a golden disc.

28

~ 79th Division 403rd Division (Przeno River Rats IV-phi)
Division/Elite/Fanatical
(The Steel Snake Charmers IV-zeta) CO : Precentor XI Darrel Burns
Harbingers of Victory III-chi: Demi-Precentor II
Division/Elite/Reliable David Ushkow
Looking Glass III-tau: Demi-Precentor IV Daryn Waite
co: Precentor XII Louisa Draga The Thunderheads III-phi : Demi-Precentor VII Nicole Morin
Misguided Fortune III-phi: Demi-Precentor X Jean Jubelt
The Fang Pullers III-delta: Demi-Precentor X Pi ng Hu Natural Enemies III-upsilon: Demi-Precentor IX Derek Cook
The Sentinels III-psi: Demi-Precentor VIII Harold Junge
Beyond Belief III-zeta: Demi-Precentor VII Jerry Krug Until the end of 3061 , the 403rd was part of the Twel fth
Army and based in the Free Rasalhague Republic. However,
Evident Glory III-epsilon: Demi-Precentor II Brenda Wright when the situation in the St. Ives Compact became clear, the
403rd's exploits against the Jade Falcons at Robyn's Crossing
The Bridgeburners III-zeta: Demi-Precentor X Cl emens and the Smoke Jaguars on Yamarovka made them ideal peace-
keepers . Though an accomplished warrior, Precentor Burns is
Goldader committed to the path of peace and will do everything in his
power to defuse the situation and protect the citizens of
Leap of Faith III-theta : Demi-Precentor IX John Fishbein N a s ~uar and surrounding worlds.
The insignia of the 403rd shows a water rat bearing a hel-
Starlight Warriors III-eta: Demi-Precentor VIII Malik Park met and rifle.

The Seventy-ninth Division is one of the most experienced ~ 321st Division (Com Guard Grenadiers IV-beta)
Division/Elite/Fanatical
in ComStar, having fought the Diamond Sharks and Steel Vipers CO: Precentor VIII Tamatha Sparks
The Banshee 's Wail III-beta: Demi-Precentor
on Tukayyid and the Smoke Jaguars on Caripare, Garstedt, and II Nicholas Liapes
Points of Light III-gamma: Demi-Precentor IV Edward Ten ner
Savinsville in Operation Bulldog. However, the unit's success Bl ack Hole III-alpha : Demi-Precentor III Jos Wish ner
Blinding Flash III-gamma: Demi-Precentor VI Brad Morri ssey
has gone to their heads , and a number of Level III comm anders The Long Wait III-beta: Demi-Precentor VII Dan Lawlor
Over the Wall III-alpha: Demi-Precentor X Jas Hutt
have questioned the wisdom of returning the unit to peace-kee p- Li ke the 403rd, the 321st are new arrivals in the Compact ,
th is t ime on the so-called "Teng front ." Headqu art ered on
ing duties in the Chaos March. Although not directly hostile , the Warlock, the BattieMech-heavy division is deployed in Leve l ill-
sized units on worlds from Maladar to Teng, and thou gh nom i-
Capellans have made it clear that ComStar troops are not wel - nally neutral , the unit is believed to have supplied Cassandra
Li ao 's forces with intelligence and materials.
come . However, it is unclear how much of thi s is the result of
The insignia of the Com Guard Grenadiers shows a 'Mech's
the long-standing antipathy between Chancellor Li ao and foot crushing a snake .

Precentor Martial Davion and how much can be attributed to th e

Word of Bla ke' s malign influence.

The insignia of the Seventy-Ninth shows a sna ke, its fangs

*bared , coiled about the ComStar emblem .
87th Division (The Nova Cat Trainers IV-pi)

Division/Regular/Reliable

co: Precentor XIII Archie Pardeau
Eloquent Words III-rho: Demi-Precentor IX Stanley

Fratte

The Outsiders III-xi: Demi-Precentor III Aaron Duda

Paragons of Loyalty III-pi : Demi-Precentor VII Edmund

Villaflor

Troubled Times III-sigma : Demi-Precentor I Kim berly Arnell

Rulebreakers III-omicron: Demi-Precentor IV Pete Chadha

Mount ai n Men III-pi : Demi-Precentor VI Alexander Fogel

Based in the city of Tiantan on St. Ives, the Eighty-seve nth

is nomin ally responsible for guarding many of Com Star' s faci li-

ties in the Capellan March, but since the st art of th e St. Ives

Crisis , many of these garrisons have been downgraded in favor

of an increased presence in the Compact and the FedCom 's

Kittery salient. A capable diplomat as well as mil itar y co mm an-

der, Precentor Pardeau has been working clo sely with th e St.

Ives government and the Federated Common wealth 's military

liaison. Indeed, it was Pardeau's willingness to adm it that his

forces could not protect ComStar installations and block t he

Li ao advance that prompted the Precentor Ma rti al to deploy

additional troops . The arrival of the 403rd Division on Nashu ar

has allowed the Eighty-seventh to concentrate its efforts in the

Kittery region , though two Level III units remain On St. Ives and

a third is providing logistical support for Kuan-Yin Liao's human-

itarian relief effort.

The insigni a of the Eighty-seventh Division shows a styli zed

cat sitting atop a tank.

27

5TH ARMY V·OMICRON:
THE MOUNTAINEERS

Divided between the Chaos March and the Ca pellan Confederation, the tactical position
of the Fifth Army is almost as bad as that of the Fourth . The situation is further worsened
by a number of internal problems stemming from the Marik-Liao invasion. With the 394th
Division withdrawn to Hall in the face of the advance, the army unwittingly allowed the Sirian
Holds Massacres to take place. Every warrior in t he army regards this as a personal dis-
grace, exacerbated by the loss of Terra to the Word of Blake, which two of the army's divi-
sions could theoretically have prevented. Anastasius Focht's willingness to take the 394th
Division to Huntress and Strana Mechty went some way toward resolving the problem, but
the unit's morale rem ained shaky until the end of 3061. Strangely, where Davion's appoint-
ment has had an adverse effect on many ComStar units, in the Fifth Army it may have done
some good, indicating the start of a new era.

The insignia of the Fifth Army shows a Wyvern BattleMech scaling a cliff.
OFFICERS

Until 3061 Precentor Harris Harvison commanded the 394th Division. On Strana Mechty, he commanded the ComStar forces
in the Great Refusal. Though he was defeated by the Jade Falcons, the Precentor Martial lauded his leadership and courage, and
upon returning to the Inner Sphere, Harvison was promoted to command of the army, replacing Anna Gesicki (who was an excellent
tactician but a poor strategist). His promotion has led to a genera l improvement in morale.
FORCES

Though containing a smaller proportion of aerospace forces than is normal in a Com Guard unit, the Fifth Army's mix of
BattleMechs, armor, and infantry is suited to its assigned t asks. The two Confederation-based divisions, primarily charged with
securing ComStar facilities, contain the highest proportion of BattieMechs, while the Chaos March-based forces have a consider-
ably higher proportion of infantry, ideal for their peace-keeping role.

28

394th Division (The White Lions IV-tau) 467th Division (The Jaguar Skinners IV-xi)
Division/Elite/Reliable Division/Regular/Reliable

co: Precentor II Elayne Reine CO: Precentor VIII Terry Shykes
Teeth and Claws Ill-mu: Demi-Precentor II Les lie
Manyfold Paths III-tau : Demi-Precentor VI Juliu s Roberts
Havanna The Shadowmen III-omicron: Demi-Precentor X Chris Wick
The Mummers III-rho: Demi-Precentor V Joseph Cza rt Gens de Guerre III-xi : Demi-Precentor VII Samuel Baba
Bloodied Hopes III-tau: Demi-Precentor I Edwin Rymek The Trumpeters Ill-nu: Demi-Precentor IX Brian Callero
The Lion's Mane III-phi: Demi-Precentor III Antonio Vel ez True Prophecy III-pi: Demi-Precentor III Gordon Jorgenson
Moonchildren III-sigma: Demi-Precentor IX Renee Dempster Eyes and Ears III-xi : Demi-Precentor VIII June Ploen
The Bull Dancers III-upsilon: Demi-Precentor II Orson Baker Like the Seventy-sixth, the 467th Division has suffered at the
Elements of the 394th accompanied the Huntress re lief hands of the CCAF and Word of Blake in recent months. But th e
force , and warriors from the unit made up half the ComStar problems on Menke and surrounding worlds are far more seri-
force that fought on Strana Mechty. Although the force lost, ous than those facing the Sian-based diviSion, including sn iper
Focht and Davion applauded their courage and tenacity. The attacks and unprovoked arrests. These incidents have prompt-
unit's morale has increased dramatically since 3059, but since ed Precentor Shykes to confine his forces to their bases,
the return from Clan space the new commander, Elayne Reine, accepting a de facto siege but keeping the Word of Blake fro m
has had to .~ork hard to prevent any backslid ing. taking comm and of the HPG stations. However, with the situa-
The insignia of the 394th Division s hows a lion rampant tion deteriorating, the Precentor Martial may be forced to with-
before a golden sunburst. draw th e troops or risk conflict with a Star League member
state .
76th Division A patch depicting the skeleton of a big cat identifies mem-
(The Battered Wolf Warriors IV-mu) bers of th e 467th Division.
Division/Regular/Reliable
4> 379th Division (Hawks of the High Wind IV-pi)
CO:' Precentor VIII Ullan Brian Division/Veteran/Reliable
Infinite Dreams III-nu: Demi-Precentor VII Cristian Downey CO: Precentor XI Dakkara Sin
Majority Rules III-mu: Demi-Precentor VI Frank Precilio The Hawk's Talons III-pi: Demi-Precentor IX Ali Ahmad
Razor's Edge III-kappa: Demi-Precentor VII Annie Driscol Dancing Shadows III-rho: Demi-Precentor II Leroy Bacci
Storm and Stress III-mu: Demi-Precentor III Richard Ryan The Harlequins III-pi: Demi-Precentor V Mark Gamb
Bold Rascals III-lambda: Demi-Precentor X Gordon Souden Inner Strength III-xi: Demi-Precentor IV Natalia Kornas
Nerves of Steel III-xi: Demi-Precentor IV Angelo Dugo The Cavalrymen III-omicron: Demi-Precentor VI Sylvia
The Capellan Chancellor has placed th e Seve nty-s ixth Solomon
Division, based on Sian, in a difficult position by inviting the Howling Breeze III-sigma: Demi-Precentor X Tim Hoskinson
Word of Blake to operate the HPG stations within his rea lm. In Although it performed well on Tukayyid, for many years the
the absence of orders from the Primus or Precentor Martial,
Precentor Brian has refused the Capellan governm ent' s 3 79th Division was a shadow of its former self. That ch anged
requests to hand over the HPG facilities to th e Blaki st s. with th e Marik-Liao invasion of the Federated Commonwealt h.
Fortunately, the CCAF's military commitments in the St. Ives The inexperienced unit suffered major losses, but the constant
Compact and the Chaos March have prevented th e engage ments gave its troopers the seasoning they lacked, and
Confederation from bringing force to bear on the division, but today they are among the most proficient in the Com Gu ards at
trade with the local population has dropped off markedly in small-unit tactics and urban warfare.
recent weeks. The unit has been the target of a half-dozen sab-
otage attempts in the past few months. The pitched battles with the Word of Blake have given way
The insignia of the Seventy-sixth Division depicts a blood- to ambushes and terrorism, but the strain of commanding a
ied wolf. unit in a de facto war zone for more than four years has taken
its toll on Precentor Sin. He has become increasingly authori-
tarian and isolated, exhibiting signs of acute paranoia .
However, his troops have remained steadfastly loyal to the ir
commander, and any attempt to remove the precentor CQu id
prompt a rebellion. The issue is a thorny one that should be
resolved with the utmost speed.

The official insignia of the 379th shows an eagle 's head,
though many units also bear the image of a jade falcon impaled
on a katana.

29

6TH ARMY V·KAPPA: GRIM DEFIANCE

The Sixth Army was formerly based in the six-to-seven slice of the Com Star "clock," predominantly in the
Coreward regions of the Sarna March. But after the Liao-Marik invasion , it was relocated to bolster defenses

against the Clans . Grim Defiance was assigned to the Draconis Combine and played a major role in sup-
porting Operation Bulldog, though only the Thirty-first Division saw action in that campaign. The Sixth has
remained in the Combine, strengthening the defenses against the relocated Ghost Bears, aiding the reinte-

gration of the former Jaguar holdings, and occasionally serving as mediators between the Combine and the
assimilated Nova Cats in the newly formed Irece Prefecture .
Members of all four divisions routinely drill against DCMS troops, avoiding the stagnation that comes
with prolonged garrison duty. However, in recent months Precentor Mueller has become concerned that
some Combine regimental commanders, particularly those of the Alshain Avengers, may be using these
exercises to hone their skills for assaults on the Ghost Bear territories. Mueller feels such attacks would
be detrimental to the interests of both the Combine and the Inner Sphere . Precentor Martial Davion has

raised the issue with Coordinator Kurita but has reached no fi rm decision.
The insignia of the Sixth Army shows an armored knight , sta nding with a sword in one hand and a mace in the other.
OFFICERS
Precentor Daniel Mueller, who commanded the Thirty-first Divisi on on Tu kayyid before taking control of what remained of the
Sixth Army, is regarded as one of the best officers in the Com Gu ards . Mueller' s authorit arian, no-nonsense style proved ideal for
integrating two new divisions into the rebuilt army, t ho ugh the t ask was undo ubted ly made easie r by his having commanded one of
those divisions. Although dismayed by events in the Chaos March since th e arm y's withdrawal, Mueller accepts that they could not
have been predicted, which has brought him into conflict with several ju nior officers .
FORCES
Unusually for Com Guard troops, the Sixth Army' s divisions clearly deli neat e between ·Mech and support troops. The ' Mech
t roops, and to a lesser extent the armor troops, form the mainst ay of the defenses agai nst Clan Ghost Bear. Few infantry are includ-
ed in such units , instead serving in the traditional role of security forc es for HPG compounds . This has allowed troops to specialize
in tactics and thus avoid the weakness of mUltipurpose training.

30

31st Division (The Lost Boys IV-theta) ~ 102nd Division (Focht's Knights IV-omicron)
Division/Elite/Reliable Division/Regular/Reliable
co: Demi-Precentor XVIII Peter Isotera
co: Precentor VII Gonzalo Cabral Broken Crown III-pi: Demi-Precentor III Leonid
Brenman
Cemetery Gates III-theta: Demi-Precentor IX Richard No Regrets II I-omicron: Demi-Precentor VI Donna Probst
Wilder Return t o Serenity III-nu: Demi-Precentor IV Walter Theefs
Crazy Players III-eta: Demi-Precentor VIII Alice Pollworth From the Depth s III-om icron: Demi-Precentor X Alan Lau
The Molehill Climbers III"kappa : Demi-Precentor II I Adol ph Harmonious Discord III-xi: Demi-Precentor I Argimiro
Guent he r Gamboa
Strange Highways III-zeta : Dem i-Precentor VI Hiroshi Abe Carefu l Haste III-rho: De mi-Precentor IV Thomas Chall
Into the Wi nd III-theta: Demi-Precentor II Manolo Patenio The fighting on Luzerne duri ng Operation Bulldog saw some
Broken Laws III-iota : Demi-Precentor VII Elaine Margolle of the worst casualties in the SLDF and inflicted considerable
Based on Procyon following the Battle of Tukayyid but with- damage on the planetary infrastructure. Deployed to Luzerne in
drawing in the wake of the Li ao-Marik invasion, the Thirty-First the fall of 3059 , elements of the 102nd have been heavily
is haunted by the specter of the Si rian Holds t ragedy, where a involved in the relief and reconstructi on efforts . The unit's engi-
large portion of the planet's popul ation was condemned to neers have made battle sites safe , and life for the liberated
death cam ps. When the scale of the atrocities became appar- popu lation has slowly returned to normal. However, the popu-
ent, t he members of the division blamed themselves, and the lace remains suspicious of the Com Guard troops , remember-
unit' s commander, Johnny Ruth, re signed . However, the unit ing Operation Scorpion and the Jaguar crackdown that fo llowed.
has remained an effective fi ghting fo rce, participating in Though not directly host ile, there have bee n murmurs about
Operation Bulldog, fighting the Jaguars on Virentofta and "accepting one occupat ion force in lieu of another."
Rockland, and forming part of the reli ef force to Huntress.
Cu rre nt ly headquartered on Chand ler, the Thirty-first The insignia of the 102nd Division shows a pair of crossed
serves as the command division for the Sixth Army, defending lances .
the army's headquarters in addit ion to its more general respon-
sibilities. Since returning from Clan space, the Th irty-first has 1st Division (McGillaray's Legion IV-xi)
partici pated in a number of exercises with the Fifteenth Alshain Division/Regular/Reliable
Avengers . CO: Precentor XIV Peter McGili aray
A black disc bearing a set of white footprints serves as the Legion Alpha III-nu : Demi-Precent or XII Kathy Issei
divisi on's insigni a. Legion Beta Ill-mu: Demi-Precentor XI John Lemein
Legion Gamm a III-xi: Dem i-Precentor XV Amit Singh
~ 12th Division (The Grizzly Grinders lV-gamma) Legion Delta III-pi: Demi-Precentor IX Jesus Martinez
Division/Elite/Reliable Legion Epsilon III-omicron: Demi-Precentor XIV Kevin T.
co: Precent or VIII Herman Schtiles Stein
Luk's Warriors III-gam ma: Demi-Precentor X Frank Legion Zeta II I-xi : Demi-Prec ento r X Gregory White
De s imo ne The first division fo rmed by the Com Guard s has been the
The Renegades III-bet a: Demi-Precentor II Abraham Chacko most active over the past 1 50 years . The First Division
Killing Glare III-alpha: Demi-Precentor IV Jas Threadgill destroyed the wrecked battlecru iser Tripitz in 2980 and shat-
Evolution in Motion III-gamma: Demi-Precentor V Mark tered the pirate alliance of "Black" Jack McGirk in 3004.
Zipperer Although taking major casualties, the divi sion proved the Com
House of Pain II I-epsilon: Demi-Precentor III Albert Michael Guards cou ld fight and developed many of the order's combat
Gaping Jaws III-delta: Demi-Precentor V Dane Hooper tactics. The division 's prestige was fu rther enhanced by its bat-
The intervention of the Twelfth Division in the battle for Luk tles against the Steel Vipers and Ghost Bears, though both cost
is con sidered one of the key events of Tukayyid, although the the unit dearly. The contribution of Precentor McGiliaray led to
brutal fight ing t hat ensued cost the unit almost half it s strength the unit's nickname, one of the few t imes a Com Guard unit
and most of its senior officers. has been named for it s commander.
Based on Rockland near the Comb ine-Periphery border,
The modern Twelfth Division 's lack of major combat expe- the unit faces a growing pirate t hreat . In late 3061 , Precentor
rience since Tukayyid has led some to question the unit's abil- McGiliaray dispatched Beta Level III into the Periphery to iden-
ities. However, the unit' s mil itary and diplomatic efforts to inte- tify and neutralize the pirate bases. The unit has yet to report
grate the Nova Cats into Combine society have done much to in, and the precentor fears the worst but has yet to list the unit
si lence the critics. The unit's combat record , demonstrated in as missi ng.
a series of exerci ses with the Genyosha regiment s and Tau and The insignia of the First Division shows a marble pillar on
Chi Galaxies , has earned the respect of both the DCMS and the which rests the helmet of a Roman sold ier.
Nova Cats.

The insignia of the Twelfth Division shows a meat grinder
from which a ghost bear is attempting to escape.

31

7TH ARMY V·IOTA: THE DARK WAVE

The past five years have not been kind to the Seventh Army. First the Marik-Uao invasion of
the Federated Commonwealth prompted their relocation to the Lyran Alliance , and then the
Coventry Crisis necessitated a second relocation to the Jade Falcon border. Furthermore, the

defection of the commanding officer and a large body of troops to the Word of Blake has dev-
astated morale. Precentor Karina Vista was well-liked by her troops, and many who remain
question Precentor Martial Davion 's appointment. The resignation rate in all divisions save
the Ninth is very high, and the new commander has been hard-pressed to keep the army in
fighting trim .

The insignia of the Seventh Army shows a dark blue wave on a gray disk.
OFFICERS
Formerly the XO, Precentor XI Yusuf ibn Ayyub has fought a losing battle to maintain the army's
morale. Some have blamed Ayyub, born in Terra's Lavant provinces, for the army's steady deterioration , accusing him of being a
Blakist sympathizer. However, Precentor Martial Davion has expressed his confidence in Ayyub, allowing him free rein in his efforts
to motivate the Seventh .
Demi-Precentor Richard Pettigrew of the 214th Division is the most infamous member of the Seventh Army, having been demot-
ed from precentor for insubordination following the Battle of Tukayyid . Pettigrew was openly critical of the number of lives lost on
Tukayyid , and only his actions against the Jade Falcons at Plough Bridge saved him from a full court martial. A staunch opponent
of Focht's policies, it remains to be seen whether Pettigrew will work with the new Precentor Martial.
FORCES
Defections and resignations have dragged the Dark Wave's combat effectiveness down to seventy percent. New recruits-
including ROM agents to keep tabs on the unit's sympathies-have replaced many of the lost troops, but the integration process is
not expected to be complete until the end of 3062.

32

9th Division (DKK-Dark Kat Killers IV-pi) ~ 222 nd Division (The Banished Few IV-xi)
Division/Elite/Questionable Division/Regular/Questionable
co: Precentor IX Narami Nichigama CO: De mi-Precentor XI Hart Kraig
Shades of Gray III-rho: Demi-Precentor V John The Birdcage III-omicron: Demi-Precentor IV Barry
Morahan Rabovsky
Blinding Light III-pi: Demi-Precentor VII Ted Korshak Mobile Menace III-xi: Demi-Precentor X Brad Tomasheski
The Claw Clippers III-omicron: Demi-Prece ntor III Chao- The Bl ackout III-mu: Demi-Precentor VI Maria Jorns
Chung Hsu Late Bloome rs III-nu: Demi-Precentor V Paul Davies
The Joje Grenadiers III-pi: Demi-Precentor II Darlene Sorg Class Acts III-xi: Demi-Precentor III Phoebe McLernon
Tricks and Traps III-sigma: Demi-Precentor IX Ken Pari ser Blessed Actions III-pi: Demi-Precentor III Richard Shaftic
The Sword's Edge III-xi: Demi-Precentor IV Al be rt Gioia In the wake of the Jade Falcons ' 3058 assault on the Lyran
Having fought the Nova Cats at Joje and Tost, the Ninth All iance , the 222nd Division was reassigned to Kowloon on the
Division has established a reputation for courage , thorough- Periph ery border. Politely referred to as "the world the Al liance
ness, and ingenuity. The division excels at combined-arms tac- forgot," the pl anet has little to endear itself to the Com Guard
tics, mixing air power, static defenses, and tactica l assaults to ga rri son save large tracts of virgin terrain. The occa sional
keep its opponents off balance . The unit's sappers are partic- pirate raid provides the only break in the unit's monotonous
ul arly adept at setting booby traps, something they used to dev- rou t ine, and Precentor Kraig constantly stages exercises and
astating effect against the Nova Cats. Working in conjunct ion rotates his deployments to prevent stagnation. However, disci-
with other SLDF troops on Hyner and Marslldale during pline has begun to slip and many are questioning their deploy-
Operation Bulldog, the Ninth continued to live up to their nick- ment, regarding their nickname as sadly prophetic. A number
name of "Dark Kat Killers ." have deserted-most simply disappeared into the All iance, but
Unlike other divisions in the Seventh Army, morale in the others defected to the Word of Blake.
DKK remains good. However, the unit 's loyalties are unclear.
Almost a third of the troops who accom panied Karin a Vist a into The insignia of the 222nd Division shows a helmet hung
exile came from the Ninth, and Precentor Nichigama has yet to from the stock of an assault rifle that has been driven into t he
declare for or against Precentor Martial Davion . ground.
After Tukayyid the unit patch of the Dark Kat Killers showed
the pelt of a Nova Cat, but since 3060 this has been joined by 214th Division
(The Red Arrow Division IV-eta)
*that of a Smoke Jaguar. Division/Regular/Questionable
244th Division (The Prince's Men IV-psi) CO : Demi-Precentor XIII Richard Pettigrew
4 Level Ills/Green/Fanatical Solid Found ation III-eta: Demi-Precentor IV Van Zhang
co: Precentor I Raymond Irelon Lightning Strike III-epsilon : Demi-Precentor VI Karl Haviland
Broken Chains III-psi: Demi-Precentor II Zaffar Akh laq Guiding Light III-theta: Demi-Precentor III Bass Deike
Loyal Subjects III-chi: Demi-Precentor II Margaret Ch aps Ri ver Raiders III-iota: Adept X Anthony Lu x
The Strongmen III-omega: Demi-Precentor VI Patrick Steadfast Survivors III-eta : Demi-Precentor VIII Jason
Hullinger Neace
Sticks and Stones III-psi: Demi-Precentor III Rudolf Sha kov The Breakout III-zeta: Demi-Precentor IX Bong Ro
After Precentor Martial Davion's appointment, Demi- Although broken by the Jade Falcons at Plough Bridge on
Precentor Shint Dieter attempted to lead a Level III of troop s the Prezno River, the ' Mech-heavy 214th has a reputation for
into exile with the Word of Blake . However, he counted without res ii ience and fo rtitude, having overcome its initial defeat and
t he resolve of Level III commander Raymond Irelon , who , lead- launch ed a counterassault on the Falcons. Less than a Level III
ing the division's "loyalist " forces, moved to block hi s com- of warriors survived the battle, but these serve as the core of
mander's treachery. The result was a pitched battle between the rebu ilt division and are steadfastly loyal to Precentor
the two factions, bloodying both but preventing a mass exodus . Pettigrew. Though few show any inclination toward the Word of
A handful of Blakist sympathizers escaped, but Dieter was ca p- Blake, Precentor Pettigrew's leanings have given ROM little
tured and awaits trial for treason at the Co mStar HQ on choice but to de signate the unit questionable .
Tukayyid. To underline their loyalty to the new Prece ntor Martial, The insigni a of t he 214th Division shows a flight of arrows,
t he division has abandoned its old nickname, "The Cloaked," in one of which is red and larger than its fellows.
favor of "The Prince's Men."

Officially, the insignia of the 244th shows a sword impal-
ing a crown, but some members of the unit also wear the
Federated Sun's Sword and Sunburst.

33

8TH ARMY V-PI: STERN DEFIANCE

Based along the border of the Lyran Alliance and the Free Worlds League, the members of
the Eighth Army have had little opportu nity fo r combat si nce Tukayyid, instead focusing their
efforts on humanitarian relief, peace-keeping, and anti-pi rate missions. The greatest threat the
four divisions have faced is the Word of Bl ake , whose terrorist operatives have staged a number
of minor attacks on HPG stations along the border. These attacks died down in early 3060 but
returned with a vengeance late in '61. However, ROM believes some of these assaults actually
originate with Loki , t he Lyran terrorist agency. The Alliance's re ason for such operations is
unclear, but it seems li kely they are intended to keep the Com Guard forces occupied and out of
the degenerating situation in the Alli ance and Commonwealth. Little hard evidence exists to sup-
port this theory, but it is steadily gatheri ng support among the army's senior officers.

The insignia of the Eighth Army shows a gargoyl e perched on t he shoulder of a Guillotine
BattleMech .
O FFICERS
Though loyal to ComStar, Precentor XI Beesor Yakel espouses the view-su pported by a number in the order-that Victor
Steiner-Davion's appoint ment pl aces the Com Guards in a difficult pOSition because of Davion's poor relationship with his sister and
the Capel lan Confederation. With the Free Worlds League al ready closed to ComStar because of the Word of Blake, the precentor
argues that only the Combine and Rasal hague support the Com Guards, and even thi s appears optimistic. Yakel regards his stance
as "loyal opposition" rather t han outright rebellion against ComSt ar, a situation the Precentor Martial has taCitly approved. Indeed,
Davion has said, " I'd rather be surrounded by a loyal opposition than advised by sycophants."
FORCES
The Eighth Army has bolstered its traditional Star League-era equ ipment with locally produced 'Mechs and vehicles. Lyran-built
Thunder Hawks and Cestus fight alongside Terran-built Shootists and Excaliburs , lending the army a cosmopolitan air. Prior to 3057 this
was due to the insistence of Prince Victor Davion, who recognized the Federated Commonwealth's debt to the Com Guards who fought
on Tukayyid. Following the secession of the Lyran Alli ance, the flow of materi al initially continued at a reduced level while Katherine
Steiner-Davion bolstered her forces, but in recent months ComStar has found it increas ingly difficult to purchase such equipment.

34

182nd Division (The Steel Cavalry IV-kappa) ~ 56th Division (The Martial's Sword IV-iota)
Divi sion/Regula r/Reli able Division/Regular/Reliable
CO: Precentor IV Celene Jussiaume
co: Precentor VIII Erin Harwe ll Right to Fight III-eta: Demi-Precentor IX Clarence
Hamre
Devi l Dogs III-ka ppa: Dem i-Precentor V Dominique Blind Pursuit III-kappa: Demi-Precentor IV Sonya Johnson
Fe rrand Roll the Bones III-iota: Demi-Precentor I Dinah Alday
The Dread noughts III-iota: Demi-Precentor II Rifet Kozlica White Rabbits III-lambda: Demi-Precentor VII Roman Gales
Dark Moon II I-ka ppa: Demi-Precentor VII Albina Sharts Wild Children III-theta: Demi-Precentor X Kenneth Sommers
Out of Time III-theta: Demi-Precentor VI Elmer Zobus Rain or Shine III-iota: Demi-Precentor III Steven Denk
Sacred Heart III-lambda: Demi-Precentor IX Jan Chramega Based on Solaris for the past decade, the Fifty-sixth
Fluid Conflict Ill-mu : Demi-Precentor III Linda Wu Division's role has evolved steadily. Initially intended as garri-
Anchoring the Com Gu ard deployment along the Lyran-FWL son troops, their status as a neutral party accepted (albeit war-
border, the 182nd Division is charged with defending Com Star ily) even by the Free Worlds League has led to a role as
installations on a dozen worlds on the Lyran side of the border arbiters. This role has become increasingly prominent since the
with the Free World s League and Circ inus Federation. However, breakup of the Federated Commonwealth , but in recent months
although Precentor Harwell is on reasonable terms with Colonel relationships with Lyran officials have cooled. Indeed, the Fifty-
Darrel Ingles ' Tenth Lyran Regulars, her troops have repeated- sixth has been relieved of any responsibility for maintaining
ly fallen foul of the commander of the Cavanaugh II Theater, order during the forthcoming season's matches, a task they
Richard Steiner. The son of General of the Armies Nondi Steiner have undertaken for the past four years. That position will
and thus cousin to the Archon, Richard Steiner is also a former instead by handled by Lyran Alliance troops .
member of our order who resigned under mysterious circum-
st ance s in the late 3030s. Reassigned from the Skye March in The insignia of the Fifty-sixth Division is a broadsword bear-
30 58, General Steiner appears to bear us some form of ing the ComStar logo, point upward in a deliberate reversal of
grudge, which he has been taking out on the 182nd by enmesh- the Word of Blake logo.
ing their supply shipments and troop movements in red tape. It
seems unlikely such actions are part of official Lyran policy, but ~ 167th Division
they fit neatly with the Archon 's disdain for the Precentor . (The Green Mountain Boys IV-xi)
Martial and ou r ord er's neutrality. Division/Green/Reliable
The in signia of the 182nd shows a horse made of riveted CO: Demi-Precentor IX Siurpea Kuzi
steel pl ates. Line in the Sand III-nu: Demi-Precentor VIII

85th Division Raymond Sowell
(Mack the Knife Division IV-omicron) The Wastelanders III-xi: Demi-Precentor VI David Zigmond
Division/Elite/Reliable The Silent Men III-pi : Demi-Precentor IV Demetria Lonis
Lifting Shadows III-om icron: Demi-Precentor III Fred
co: Precentor IX John Graf
Greenburg
Circle of Honor III-rho: Demi-Precentor VIII Louis Feid Pale Fire III-xi: Demi-Precentor VIII Rick Robinson
Lone Star III-omicron: Demi-Precentor I Patricia Abbey Pieces of Eight III-mu: Demi-Precentor X Craig Green
Night Intruders III-nu: Demi-Precentor III Albert Schneider The 167th DiviSion is well-equipped for its location and sta-
Defiant Gestures III-pi: Demi-Precentor VI Barbara Wilcox tus, a result of Demi-Precentor Kuzi 's contacts in the Com
Blood and Steel III-omicron: Demi-Precentor IV Chung Hong Guard logistics command. Although not supplied with the latest
Ugly Angels III-xi: Demi-Precentor V Leon Upin equipment, the unit does not want for ammunition and parts,
Former Word of Blake Precentor Martial Trent Arian, who allowing it to maintain a high degree of readiness. Unusually,
commanded the Eighty-fifth Division on Tukayyid, took a Level III given the current relations with the Lyran Alliance , the unit reg-
of 'Mechs when he defected to Gibson, almost half the unit's ularly exercises with the Seventh Lyran Regulars. Precentor
complement. The unit's new commander faced an uphill strug- Kuzi and Colonel Hamilton hope such exercises will provide
gle but persevered, and the rebuilt Eighty-fifth was declared their enthusiastic but inexperienced units with valuable practi-
combat-ready in January 3055. cal experience. Indeed, the Com Guard and Lyran commanders
The division took part in Operation Bulldog, forming part of have arranged a series of officer exchanges, granting each an
the Schwartz task force and contributing to the relief mission insight into how the other works. However, neither Kuzi nor
to Huntress. Precentor Graf fought in the Great Refusal , though Hamilton believes the status quo can be maintained indefinite-
his Shootist was reduced to scrap and he sustained serious ly, and both fear the gathering clouds of war.
injuries . The insignia of the 167th Division shows two warriors arm-
A 'Mech fist clutching a knife serves as the Eighty-fifth wrestling.
Division's insignia.

35

9TH ARMY V-LAMBDA: THE RAG TAGS

The Ninth Army's area of re sponsibility includes the Spinward sections of the Lyran Alliance, the
old nine-to-ten slice of the ComSta r "clock," dovetailing into the areas of the Eighth and Tenth

Armies. Away from both the Cl ans and the Word of Bl ake, the Ninth faces the smallest military
threat and is widely dispersed. In many regards this reflects standard pre-Tukayyid troop deploy-
ments, though the lack of troops when compared with the pre-war era is notable. With the excep-
tion of the Level Ills of the Thirty-fourt h Division, few troops gather above Level II strength and a
combination of Level I force s, usually a mi x of infantry supported by armor or 'Mechs, is more com-
mon. However, the preponderance of 'Mech forces-some four hundred across the four divi-

sions-has made it impossible to protect every site in the area of responsibility, and Precentor
Owens has concentrated his force s in key trouble spots .

As in the Seventh and Eighth Armies, the troops are uneasy about Precentor Martial Davion.
They have witnessed the Alliance's outrage firsthand and have seen a steady deterioration of their
relationship with the local populace. They have also seen a number of resignations and defections to
the Word of Blake, most notably that of Newton Fawcett, former commander of the 207th Division.
The soldiers and vehicles of the Ninth Army use the image of a scarecrow as their insignia.
OFFICERS
More of a diplomat than a military commander, Precentor Sonic Owens recognizes the difficult position he and his troops are
in. He has been in near-constant communication with the LAAF High Command to assure them of ComStar's neutrality, but, angered
by ComStar's rejection of the Archon's candidacy for First Lord, the Lyran officials seem little inclined to listen. This has prompted
Owens to change his approach, and he has intimated that while the LAAF could certainly crush his command in a military con-
frontation, doing so would have grave consequences .
FORCES
Increasing anti-Com Guard bureaucracy within the Lyran Alliance has had a major impact on troop and supply movements that
has proved particularly problematic to the widely dispersed Ninth. Current estimates suggest that only three-quarters of the army's
'Mechs and armor troops are operational because of parts shortages. Although of little tactical significance-the unit's forces are
spread too thin to offer more than a token military threat-it has had a major impact on morale.

38

~ 34th Division (Black Glove Division IV-upsilon ) ~ 143rd Division (The Focht Hussars IV-delta)
Division/Elite/Questionable Division/Regular/Reliable
co: Precentor VIII Patrice King co: Precentor IX Alder Reed
Open Eyes III-kappa: Demi-Precentor X Florence Screaming Skull III-gamma: Demi-Precentor IX Nicki
Jozefiak Art ino
In the Shadows III-mu: Demi-Precentor II Gerh ard Fe ldmann Sideh ackers III-zeta : Demi-Precentor VI Francis Bilgman
Strength of Spirit III-lambda: Demi-Precentor VII Paul The Hellcats III-delta: Demi-Precentor VI Oleg Mudrik
Rapach The Delta Knights III-delta: Demi-Precentor IX Paula Kose
The Boxers III-iota: Demi-Precentor IV Raym ond Thiem The Unearthly III-epsilon: Demi-Precentor IV Tor Johnson
Gleam of Hope III-lambda: Demi-Prece ntor V Brian Con kli n Riding with Death III-beta: Demi-Precentor VIII Charles
Fighting Pioneers III-nu: Demi-Precentor IV Pete r Walt hers Ve rbl e
Headqua rte red on New Earth, the Thirty-fourth is t he only Widely scattered through the Lyran Alliance ' s Skye
division with in t he Ninth Army able to concentrate its troops. Province and Freedom Theater, the 143rd Division is charged
The division has deploye d two Level Ills eac h on New Earth, with t he defense of ComStar facilities from Thorin to Skye.
Thori n, and Chara, officially because of the risk of attack on Although seemingly an improvement on the division 's pre-
these worl ds by the Free Worlds League or Dra conis Combine , Tukayyid post ing of Poulsbo, the risks in this region are con-
but in practice because of the strategic importance of these side rably greater. In Skye, they are in the tinderbox t hat has
worl ds in an assault on Terra. New Eart h, form er comm and attem pted to secede from the Federated Commonwealt h twice
post of the Star League Defense Force , pl ays a majo r role in in the past quarter-century and under Robert Ke lswa-Steiner
Co mStar's plans. The world is home to th e New Earth Tradi ng could eas ily do so again. As the political situation has deterio-
Company, with which ComStar had a profitable relati on shi p for rated, the precentor, unwilling to trust his people's- safety to
many years and which, together with Yankee Weapon Systems , ComSta r's fragile neutrality, has redoubled his troops' training
is a major supply source for the order. Al rea dy deprived of schedu les and made every effort to ensure their equ ipment is
Terra's warehouses and manufacturing ,plants , such indepen- in full wo rk ing order.
dent sou rces of material are vita l to the smooth ope ration of
the Com Gua rds. The in signia of the 143rd Division depicts a skull and
crossbones with an eye patch.
The insigni a of the Thirty-fou rth Division is a black gauntlet
clenched in a fist. akin to the ins igni a of t he Lyran All iance and ~ 207th Division (The Pounders IV-mu)
Federated Commonwealt h. Division/Green/Questionable
co: Prece ntor III Hiram Laval
366th Division (The Brzo Lancers IV-iota) Mystic Vi sion s Ill-mu: Demi-Precentor VII Robert
Division/ Green/Reliable Pat e la
Re stl ess Natives III-lambda: Demi-Precentor VI Ted Ferrera
co: Precentor I Perry Espartero The War Drum s III-xi: Demi-Precentor II John Simone
The Gra ndmasters III-mu: Demi-Precentor IV Helen McNeil
The Alley Cats III-kappa: Demi-Precentor VI Daryl Siege Mac hines III-nu: Demi-Precentor X Sasa Berberijan
Gormley Blake's Spear III-kappa : Demi-Precentor III Robe rt Saluga
Force Brzo III-theta : Demi-Prece nt or V Ange la Paul Unti l Marik 's Operation Guerrero, the 20 7th was based on
Blake's Giants II I-iota : Demi-Precentor IX Jerome Hollobow Oliver, but ComSt ar's ejection from the regio n prompted t he
Lafferty's Legion naires II I-lambda: Demi-Precentor IV Eva unit 's reassignment to a broad swath of worlds Anti-Spinward
Fiks and Coreward of Al arion . Headquartered on Virtue , the unit is
Circle of Tears II I-iota: Demi-Precentor VI Emil Presman perhaps the most isolated and widely dispersed in the Com
Gunju mpers III-eta : Demi-Precentor III George Vette Guards. RO M reports suggest that it was t his isol ation that
Respo nsible for a broad swath of worlds between allowed the Word of Bl ake to insinuate itself into the unit.
Caledon ia and Duran , the 366th Division recently faced an prompti ng a resurgence of pre-reformation pseudoreligious
unexpect ed cha nge of command when Precentor Lilly Lafferty practices . The retirement of Focht tri ggered many of these
suffered a heart attack and retired from act ive service . Her XO , Bl aki st sympathi zers , led by Precentor Newton Fawcett , to
Perry Espartero, succeeded her; t hough a capable administra- defect . Most of t hese troops traveled to the Free Worlds
tor and t act ici an , Espartero was a mediocre leader and proved League and thence to Ter ra , but a few se ized HPG stations,
powerless to prevent t he wave of resignat ions and defections prom pt ing t he unit's new commander to use force to return
to t he Word of Bla ke that followed Precentor Martial Davion 's them to Com Sta r's control . He has yet to ascertain how many
ascension . With in two months of the Whitting Conference, the of t he remai ning troops have Blakist sympath ies, leading to a
unit had lost f ifteen percent of its combat troops, and self-imposed "Q uestionable " rating .
Espa rtero has had to make radical cha nges to t he division 's
deployments unt il t he losses can be made good . The insignia of the 207tl1 shew.s a v,.an%am~ wearing box-
The insignia of the 366th Division shows a crossed sword ing glove s.
and lance before a shield bearing the Com Star logo.

37

1 0 TH ARMY V ·NU: THE R ED LEGION

The Tenth Army occupies Coreward and Spinward regions of the Lyran Alliance , ranging from
worlds near Terra t o Tharkad and the Clan border. Until 3057 t hey were t he only unit to ga rrison HPG
stations in the region, but since the Refusal War and the Jade Falcon stri ke against Coventry, t hese
troops have been bolstered by the Sevent h and Eleventh Armies. However, the Tenth has found itself
drawn into the Alliance's internal problems, namely between Archon Katherine Steiner-Davion and
Grand Duke Morgan Kell of the self-proclaimed Arc Royal Defensive Cordon. With the army's supply
lines fou led by All iance bureaucracy, two divisions-the 198th and 208th-have been forced to rely
on the good graces of the Gran d Duke, a st aunch Victor loya list. However, this has further worsened their
relationship with Tharkad, creating a self-perpetuat ing downward spiral.
A red shield bearing the ComStar logo serves as t he Tent h Army' s insigni a.
OFFICERS
The commander of the Tenth Army, Precentor Cynthia Byrd, has admitted that she does not like Victor Steiner-Davion. However,
she does respect Focht's judgment and is prepared to give the former prince the benefit of the doubt. For now.
Precent or Christine Reardon of the 283rd Division is less gracious. However, ru mors of her plan s to defect to the Word of Blake
appear t o be without subst ance. Furthermore, her tactical bri lliance despite being unable to pilot a 'Mech-she lost both legs on
Tukayyid- and rapport with her troops make removing the precentor from command a risky proposition at this time.
FORCES
Though most of the army's divisions are at full strength, the 208th was effectively dest royed by the Smoke Jaguars on Luzerne ,
and only the bravery of the survivors prevent ed the unit from being disbanded. With Terra's fact ories lost to ComStar, the partly
rebuilt division is dominated by equipment manufactured in the Draconis Combine and Arc Royal Defensive Cordon , resulting in a
patchwork appearance.

38

283rd Division (The Wolf Lords IV-pi) Kesse lring and his staff have been strangely reluctant to pro-
Division/Regular/Questionable vide intelligence on the Tharkad court .

co: Precentor XVII Christine Reardon The insigni a of the Sixty-sixth Division shows a single
knight faCing a barb arian horde.
The Sharp End III-pi : Demi-Precentor X Amado
Martinez ~ 198th Division
Fighting Chance III-sigma : Dem i-Precentor VI Thos Poy
Primal Scream III-omicron : Demi-Prece ntor I Chris Gard (Dinju Mountain Men IV-epsilon)
The Comitatus III-pi: Demi-Precentor X Domenic Cusano Division/Elite/Reliable
Solid Dreams III-rho: Demi-Precentor VIII Susan Li pson
The Stouthearts III-xi: Demi-Precentor IV Jessica Munao co: Precentor VIII Winston Quillar
Led by a staunch opponent of th e new Precentor Martial,
the 283rd Division has come under cl ose scrutiny by ROM. The Spirit of Fury III-delta : Demi-Precentor VI Ch risty Roames
decision to base a potentially disloyal unit so clo se to Terra has
been the subject of much debate, but Precentor Reardon's Icy Wi nd III-et a: Dem i-Precentor IV Anne Smyth
deci sion to court-martial several Blakist age nts discovered
with in he r unit has gone a long way toward dispelli ng any The Packmasters III-epsilon :
doubts. More cyn ical observers, howeve r, have suggested this
is merely a smokescreen for the precentor's true motives . Dem i-Precentor IV Victori a Brau nd
The division once supplied the 201st Division in their guer-
rilla war against the Blakist occupation of Te rra, but dou bts ove r The Li on 's Heart III-epsi lon: Demi-Precentor VII David Edler
t he unit 's loyalty have effectively ended the 283rd's role in
such mi ssions, which are now handled by the Th irty-Fourth Red Knights III-zeta : Demi-Precentor II Jerome Orf
Division f rom New Earth . However, inert ia in t he logistics chai n
has meant supplies have continued to arrive on Rigel Kent, and The Dinju Grenad ie rs III-gamma: Dem i-Precentor X Andrzej
the unit has been left in possession of numerou s warehouses
of parts and ammunition . Ptak
The insignia of the 283rd Division shows a wolf howli ng
beneath a full moon. One of th ree division s bas ed wi thi n the Arc Royal

66th Division (The Loner Division IV-upsilon) Defensive Cordo n (the others be ing the Eleventh Army's 312t h
Division/Green/Questionable
Division and the Seventh Army's Nint h Division ), the Dinju
co : Precentor VI Dag Kesselring
Mountain Men have established an excellent rapport with the
The Harassers III-tau: Demi-Precentor IX Fl ore nce
Lichwa Grand Duke and his t roo ps. Indeed, the unit has come to rely
Deadly Decoys III-chi : Demi-Precentor V Alla n Murzyn
The Charioteers III-upsilon : Demi-Precentor III Raymond on the ARDC for supplies.
Ruggerio
Storm Clouds III-phi : Demi-Precentor V Alan Kea rn s Several Leve l Ills of the unit have exercised with ARDC
Wondrous Foresight III-upsilon : Demi-Precentor VII Pegeen
Holtane troops , including members of t he Wolf Cl an (in exile). Having
Golden Wraiths III-sigma: Demi-Precentor II Frank Posch
Like the 283rd Division, the Sixty-s ixt h fought the Wolves fo ught the Wolf Clan at Skupo, Precentor Qui llar feared his
at Forest's Edge on Tukayyid . The Sixty-sixth t ook grave losses ,
but the Wolves failed to take the bait of t heir withdrawa l, troops wou ld ba lk at working with thei r former enemies , but the
instead advancing and capturing their objecti ves . The unit also
suffered from defectio ns to the Word of Blake, and Demi- two forces st ruck up an immed iate rapport, each respecting the
Precentor Gustuv Garron, commander of the unit until his retire-
ment in 3059, faced an uphill struggle to rebuild t he division. other's martial prowess. Khan Kell's troops have shown a
Garron's replacement, Dag Kesselring, has changed the
unit's fo rtune, but it remains to be seen whether for the better. marked preference for working with the Com Guard division
The scion of a minor Lyran noble house, Kesselri ng maintains
close li nks with the court on Tharkad . Though initi ally a great over ARDC forces.
advantage to the un it, his associ ati on with Katherine Steine r-
Davion has become a thorny iss ue over the past few months. The in Signia of t he 198th shows a snow-capped mountain.

~ 208th Division (The Racice River Raiders)

3 Level Ills/Elite/Reliable

co : Precentor VIII Gravely Zane

Luzerne 's Castoffs III-kappa: Demi-Precentor III Elmer Ewing

The Su rvivors III-theta: Demi-Precent or VII Donald Millard

Courage Under Fi re Ill-mu: Demi-Precentor II I Charles Wolf

Th e Smoke Jaguars shattered the 208th Division on Luzerne ,

a result of bad planning and bad lu ck . But together with the

Third Davion Gu ard s, t he division held the Jagu ars off long

enough for reinforcements to arrive. For several weeks after the

operati on, se ri ou s consideration was given to merging the

208th Division and t he Guards to form a new Star League unit,

but argu ments over command structure and responsibilities led

to t he abandonment of the idea . However, despite the distance

se parating t hem, the unit s have rema ined in constant contact.

Just prior to the Seco nd Whitting Conference, t hey petitioned

Precentor Martial Focht and Marshal of the Armies Jackson

Davion to allow a series of officer exchanges, but Precentor

Zane and Marshal Seymour believe that the appOintment of

Victor Davion has destroyed t he possibility.

The insignia of the 208th Division shows a cartoon rat

canoeing down a river.

39

11TH ARMY V-ETA: THE HONORABLE

Though many Alli ance-based Com Guard units have suffered over the past few months, the
Eleventh Army has bee n the target of petty Lyran spite for almost five years . Originally based
along the Alli ance-Combine border, the Eleve nth was relocated to the border of the Clan

Occupation Zone at t he time of the Refusa l War. This action, intended t o block any Wolf or
Falcon drive toward Terra , did not anger the Archon. However, inviting Combine troops to serve
as peace-keepers in the dis puted " Lyons thum b" did. The Alliance government strongly
protested the move, but faced with a de facto occupation and the task of restoring law and
order in the wake of the secession from the Federated Commonwealth, they chose not to take
direct action.
However, they did levy a series of "customs tariffs" and surprise inspections on supplies
bound for the division, prompting protests from Precentor Wagoner and the Precentor Martial. The
army's division com manders have carefully built up extensi ve supply caches for use in the event of a
Clan stri ke into the Alli ance. Fearful of an attack in the wake of t he Falcon-Viper war, the army dispersed the
stockpi les to individual un its, but after the Viper' s withd rawal , this material was returned to peacetime holding areas.
The insignia of the Elevent h Army shows two warriors due ling wit h rapiers.
OFFICERS
Precentor George Wagoner has earned the nickname "Pack Rat " fro m the Com Guard supply corps, intended as a tribute to his
foiling t he Alliance's petty bureaucracy. However, the co ld and hu morl ess Wagoner has shown no sign of recognizing his moniker.
Having commqnded the Forty-eighth Divi sion since 3050, Cheryl Rau me is the longest-serving officer in the Eleventh Army;
though a superlative leader, she has twice refused promot ion to army co mmand . A hands-on commander, she feels her skills are
ill-suited to administrative t asks and would rath er rema in with her t roops, who t ru st her implicitly. Like most commanders in the
Eleventh, Raume has lent her who le-hearted su pport to Victor Steiner-Davion.
FORCES
Should the Jade Falcons attack the Alli ance or drive on Terra , the Eleventh would be on the front line of defense. and despite
t he interference of the Lyran Alliance, its divi sions are eq uipped with some of the Com Gu ard s' newest technology. In addit ion to
front-line combat troops, each division has a large contingent of engineers . ch arged with building fixed defenses such as bunkers
and gun emplacements. Indeed, having completed defensive works for the four divi sio ns, these engineers, with the exception of
those on Fort Loudon , have been helping fortify the positi ons of Lyran troops along the border. The Fort Loudon contingent has been
renovating a large underground com mand and repair faci lity, believed to be the remains of a Star League Castle Brian.

40

~ 48th Division (The Silver Cavalry IV-chi) ~ 39th Division (The White Lancers lV-gamma)
Division/Regular/Fanatical Division/Elite/Fanatical
co: Precentor IX Cheryl Raume CO: Precentor XI Joan Oprea
Inward Bound III-psi: Demi-Precentor V Chris Robb Lance r Al ph a III-alpha: De mi-Precentor V John
Price to Pay III-chi: Demi-Precentor VI Andrew Kostel Si mmon s
Hook in Mouth III-omega: Dem i-Precento r III Karen Desilvia Lancer Bet a III-gamma: Dem i-Precent or XI Nick Drivas
Take the Time III-chi: Demi-Precentor X Julie Voeck Lancer Gamma III-alpha: Demi-Precent or VI Willi s Proudfoot
The Blue Dreamers III-upsilon: Demi-Precent or IX Arthur Lancer Delta III-eta : Dem i-Precentor X Allan Harpelund
Swick Lancer Eps ilon III-alpha: Demi-Precentor III Martin
Into the Light III-phi: Demi-Precentor VIII Joan Au sland Sc hn e id e r
Based on Fort Loudon, the Forty-Eighth would bear the Lancer Zeta III-gamma: Demi-Precentor VII Le roy Holt
brunt of any drive toward Te rra, and t hei r engineeri ng detach- Relocated to Borghese in late 3057, the Th irty-N inth
ment has assembled a fea rsome array of for tificat ions and Division received a warm we lcome from the planet's popula-
emplacements. Precentor Raume realize s the weakness of st a- t ion, wh o had suffe red at the Jade Falcons' hands several
tic defe nses, but with only a Level III of 'Mechs at her dispos- years earlie r. However, the decision to use t he division in
al, she must rely on t he Fourth Davio n Gua rd s and the Fifth Operat ion Bu lldog proved less popula r, prompting Precentor
Alliance Guards for mobile strength. Given the worsening politi- Oprea to leave the infa ntry-dominated Delta Leve l III as a garri-
cal situation in the Alliance and the antipat hy betwee n the two son fo rce . Fortunately, movi ng the 'Mech-heavy Thirty-Ninth
Lyran units, she has requested the t ransfer of additional Com Divis ion to face the Smoke Jaguars on Outer Volta paid off; the
Guard troops to the region. division helped crush the Beta Galaxy command t rinary and t he
First Jaguar Guards in less than five days .
The insignia of the Forty-Eighth Divi sion is a black horse on
a silver shield. The insignia of the Thi rty-Ninth Divi si on is a knight in white
armor mounted on an armored horse.
388th Division (The White Banshees IV-xi)
Division/Regular/Reliable 312th Division (The Ivory Rooks IV-rho)
Division/Green/Reliable
co: Precentor VIII Andrea Sh illery CO : Precentor V Leonardo Dintaro
Towers of Truth III-omicron: Dem i-Precentor X Abel
New Rays III-pi : Demi-Precentor II Traci Hore l Rios
Glass Moon III-xi : Demi-Pre centor VII Carlton Prouty Life and Legend III-sigma: Demi-Precentor I Emily Gramling
Palpable Hit III-nu : Demi-Precentor X Roger Gamble The Berserkers III-pi: Demi-Precent or V Clarence Deters
Twilight Marauders III-xi: Demi-Precentor XII Paul Buskirk The Wild Bunch III-rho: Demi-Precentor II I William Ba lling
Knights and Pawns II I-mu: De mi-Precentor VI John Marrella Lost Road III-rho: Demi-Precent or IV Li lli an Schall
The Undertow III-omicron : Dem i-Precent or IV Wesley The Shadowboxers III-tau: Demi-Precentor IV John Mahler
Despite it s lack of experience in battle , the 3 12th Division
Hadd on pl ays a major rol e in the Inner Sphere's relationshi p with the
The 388th fought the Jade Falcons on the banks of Clans. Only two ju mps from t he Jade Fa lcon provincial ca pital
Tukayyid's Prezno River and have come t o regard the Cl an as on Sudeton, the world serves as a base of operations for Inner
the ir nemesis. The Falcons' end run around the border defens- Sphere diplomats. Members of t he 312th serve as escorts for
es to attack Covent ry infuriated Prece ntor Shillery, who autho- such missions and are the only Inner Sphere t roops whose
rized a series of minor raids again st Falcon positions in the presence is t olerated in t he Clan Occupation Zone.
Occu pat ion Zone. One of t he few offensive operations by The insign ia of t he divis ion shows a single white rook on a
ComStar prior to Operation Bulldog, t he raids were too slight to chessboard.
hold territory or inflict significant damage .
Drawing it s supply from t he ARDC , t he 388th's positi on
has become increasingly difficu lt in rece nt months, with the
pro-Katherin e Elevent h Donegal and Third Lyran Guards movi ng
into pos itions t hat seem intended as much to confine the Com
Guard t roops as to resist any Clan aggression .
A styl ized white ghost set on a red disc serves as the
388th Division 's ins ignia .

41

12TH ARMY V-BETA:
THE BROADSWORD AND SHIELD

The Twelfth Army is based in the Free Rasal hague Republic, working hand in hand with the KungsArme to
protect the remnant state from Clans Jade Fa lcon, Wolf, an d Ghost Bear. Until recently, the army was the

most powerful in the Com Guards , comprisi ng some six divisions, but with the Clan threat receding and the
situation in the St. Ives Compact deteriorating, the Precentor Martial re-assigned two divisions to the
Fourth Army.
Former Prince Haakon Magn usso n deemed ComStar's presence vital to the Republic's survival,
but his successor, Christi an Mansdotter, has made no secret of his wish to stand on his own. As a
result, the treatment of the ComStar troops on every world in the Republic has deteriorated notice-
ably; the stigma attached to them is not unlike the one formerly placed on mercenary groups who
joined the order. Indeed , many Rasa lhague citizens regard ComStar as little more than an occupying
force, an impression supported by ComStar's naming the seven worlds a protectorate in 3057.
The insignia of the Twelfth Arm y shows a shield propped up on a broadsword.

OFFICERS
Precentor Allian Higham is a brusque but capable officer wh o has served ComStar for more than thirty years. Renowned for his
abrasive personality, Higham nonetheless is respected by his subordin ates and is equally at home with small-unit tactics or a mul-
tiplanetary defensive campaign. A consummate planner, the precentor has developed strategies to protect the republic from its
neighbors-Inner Sphere as well as Clan-though the loss of two divisions and the less cooperative stance of the KungsArme have
prompted the precentor to rethink his plans .
FORCES
Until the end of 3061, the Twelfth Army had the highest experi ence level of any army, containing four Elite units. The transfer
of the 321st and 403rd Divisions to the Fourth Army has ended th at cl aim, though the army remains the best equipped and sup-
plied in the order. Furthermore, the Twelfth is the only army with direct WarShip support, with a five-ship squadron based at Tukayyid
and under the authority of Precentor Higham .

42

4> 278th Division (The Khan Killers IV-chi) ~ 104th Division (Smoke and Mirrors IV-chi)
Division/Elite/Fanatical Division/Regular/Fanatical
co: Precentor IX Eduard Karen CO: Precentor IX Marietta Winger
Th e Red Horde III-upsil on: Demi-Precentor III Joy Krup a Shock Troops III-phi: Demi-Precentor IV Steven Werker
Cover of Darkness III-psi: Demi-Precento r IX Vinc ent Perri The Immortals III-upsilon: Demi-Precentor X Lisa Jung
The Hangmen III-chi : Demi-Precentor VII Robert Ziel The Besi egers III-chi: Demi-Precentor IX Martha Sanders
Blood Ro ad III-phi: Demi-Precentor VI Igor Fayer Wolf in t he Fold III-omega: Demi-Precentor III Rodney Dabe
Gleaming Lances III-chi: Demi-Precentor X Darlene Kramer Campaigners III-chi: Demi-Precentor VI Billy Erika
Dangerous Days III-omega: Demi-Precentor IV Isa belo Freedom and Victory III-psi : Demi-Precentor V Wanda
Prim ero Raymond
The 2 78th Division's clash with th e Wolf Clan on Tukayyid The 104th returned to active duty in October 3057 , the
wa s brutal. The unit survived , but with horrendous losses , tak- last Com Gu ard unit returned to full strength before the loss of
ing almost three years to regain th eir fo rme r stre ngth. Terra to the Word of Blake. Having been based on Terra for five
Fortunately, rather than being rebuilt with new recr uits, th e unit ye ars, th e unit felt the loss keenly and vowed to be in the van-
absorbed displaced warriors from other divisions shattered on gu ard of the liberation. Indeed, were it not for the Precentor
Tu kayyid. Even so, the idle years on garri son duty threatened to Marti al's orders, the unit would have reversed course and
destroy the unit's capab il ities , and Demi-Precentor Richardo attem pted to liberate the world single-handedly.
Burketon wo n a place in the campaign fo r Asga rd during
Operati on Bulldog. He was badly injured in a cargo-handli ng Instead, the unit moved to the FRR capital of Orestes and
acc ident while the unit secured the former Jaguar wo rld and he lped drill the new Tyr regiment before its missions against
was replaced by Eduard Karen . the Clans. However, it is on Orestes that the anti-ComStar sen-
timent is strongest , and both the unit's barracks and t he local
Originally deployed solely on Tukayyid, th e divi sion 's HPG station have been the subject of vandalism. Graffiti stat-
deployment now includes Ueda, recently vacated by the 40 3rd ing "Fre edom not occupation" is a common sight in the city.
Division. Ueda has come as something of a culture shock, t he
troops having had little opportunity fo r day-to-day contact wi th The insigni a of the 104th is an infinite maze of passages
Rasalhague civilia ns on near-deserte d Tukayyid . formed by mirrors.

Th e insignia of the 278th Divis ion sh ows a hooded figure 472nd Division (Invader Galaxy IV-alpha)
wi th an ax standing above a bound pri soner. Galaxy/Elite/Fanatical
CO : Precentor VI Lisa Koenigs-Cober
116th Division (The Aggressors IV-lambda) 1st Assault Cluster (Sword of Truth ): Precentor IV
Division/Regular/Reliable Catherine Vitale
CO: Prece ntor XI Gloria Poquet 2 nd Assa ult Cluster (Spear of Loyalty) : Precentor IV Jong
On the Brink III-nu : Demi-Prece ntor IV Helen Be rglin Lee
Agents of Destiny III-l ambda : Demi-Precentor IX Clarence 1st Batt le Cluster (Shield of Honor): Precentor IV Lisa
Hac ker Fin negan
Implacable Defense III-iota: Dem i-Prece ntor VIII Melanie 1st Recon Clu ster (Wings of Purity): Precentor IV
Tho rnton Ch ristoph er Campise
The Intru de rs III-lambd a: Demi-Precentor III Steven Chu The newest divi sion of the Com Guards, the Invader Galaxy
Ferocity Unbound III-kappa: Demi-Precento r VI St an Dros entered servi ce in 3058, having been created from salvage
The Skirmishers III-m u: Demi-Precentor I Charl otte recovered from Tukayyid and manned by veterans of the inva-
Massimb sio n and th e battles against the Blakists on Terra .
On Tukayyid the 116th Division ga ined a reputat ion for Althou gh a fully functioning combat unit, the Galaxy's pri-
courage and aggression in their clash es wi t h the Nova Cats in mary t ask is to serve as an aggressor in war games, usually in
t he Los iije Lake district, working in conjunction with the Ninth conjunction with the Focht War College. The unit's realistic tac-
and 417t h Divisions to repel two Clan Ga laxies and effectively ti cs and equipment (Clan weapons and sensors) provide cadets
end the Nova Cat campaign . The attack cost the un it almost with an early lesson in the reality of the Clan th reat .
ha lf its st rength, incl uding Precentor Raymond Garibal di. He Four "Clusters" make up the Galaxy, each a mix of modified
was repl aced by Gloria Poquet, t he unit XO and as much a mav- 'Mechs and battle armor and roughly analogous to a reinforced
erick as her former commander. After reb uilding, t he division Level III. Each Cluster contains as much firepower as a regular
deployed to Karbala, where it paired up with t he decimat ed regiment, though the unit's adherence to Clan doctrine places
Second Kavalleri. Despite the recent cooling of relation s major restri ction s on its capabilities. Fortunately, the unit would
between th e FRR and ComStar, the two units rem ain on good abandon such restrictions in a real conflict , allowing Precentor
terms and have continued to exercise together. Koe nigs-Cober to make full use of her unit's potential.
The insign ia of the 116th is a cha rgi ng bull . Th e Galaxy's insignia is the letter" I" surrounded by f ive
st ars .

43

THE WARSH IP FLEET

The ComStar fleet, kept hidden for more than two centuries, is the largest currently
operated by an Inne r Sphere power. ComStar has constructed a number of new designs
based on vessels left behind by Kerensky's Exodus, using existing schematics and designs
developed since the Exodus. Facilities in the uninhabited Luyten 68-28 and Ross 248 sys-
tems have served as the fleet's primary hiding place , though several vessels remained hid-
den in the Terran system as a final line of defense in the event of an attack by one of the
Successor States. However, following the Clan invasion, these vessels were deployed to
Tukayyid agai nst the Clan threat, fatally weakening Terra's defense. The loss of Terra also
cost ComStar the use of the Titan manufacturing and repair yards, though ComStar retained
control of the facility until t he treachery and defection of Precentor Klaus Hettig, Focht's
right-hand man, wh o betrayed the facility to the Word of Blake in late 3061. The loss was a
devastating blow to a fleet that had lost fou r vessels in recent years: the Sovetskii Soyuz-
class Harmonious Thought and the Lola-class Leander in Operation Bulldog, and the Essex-
class Emerald and Starlight at Huntress. Other vessels like the Ranger, Divine Wisdom, and even the Invisible Truth sustained dam-
age in those engagements but remain operable.

OFFICERS
The Com Guard fleet is commanded by Alain Beresick, who served as commande r of t he Ross Luyten 68-28 fleet facil ity dur-

ing the Blakist spoiling attacks in early 3058 and headed up the naval contingent of Ope rat ion Serpent. Operation Serpent proved
Beresick's sharp intellect and instinctive grasp of naval tactics, the multinational fleet emerging victorious in three engagements
against vessels of Clans Ghost Bear and Smoke Jaguar. Upon his return to the Inner Sphere, Precentor Martial Focht named
Beresick commander of ComStar's naval forces .

The Com Guard First Fleet Based in the Free Rasalhague Republic, the First
12 ships/Veteran/Fanatical Independent Squadron provides t he Twelfth Army with a
CO: Precentor IX Alain Beresick defense against Clan WarShi ps and devastating orbital fire sup-
port shou ld the need arise. The squadron is based at Tukayyid
Based at Luyten 68-28, the Com Guard Fi rst Fleet com- and comprises the Congress-class CleanSing Fire; the Sovetskii
prises Precentor Beresick' s flagship, th e Cameron-class Soyuz-c lass Blake 's Vengeance; the Aegis-class Righteous Fury
Invisible Truth; the Dante-class Montpellier and Bordeaux; the and Swift Justice; and the Essex-class Hammerstrike.
Suffren-class Anastasius Focht; the Lola III-cla ss Divine
Wisdom, Holy Martyrdom and Strength Through Adversity; the Second Independent Squadron
Potemkin-class Vision of Truth; the WhirlwincJ.class Fire Fang; 4 ships/Veteran/Fanatical
the Vincent-class Alacrity; and the Faslane-cl ass yardships CO: Precentor V Emerson Toran
Dover and Portsmouth.
The Seco nd Independent Squadron has no fixed duties and
The Com Guard Second Fleet spent the second ha lf of 3061 exercising with the navy of the
11 ships/Veteran/Reliable Draconis Comb ine. However, since February 3062, the unit has
CO: Precentor VII Anne-Sophie Gardot operated in conjunction with the SLDF peace-keepers in the St.
Ives Compact, although t he vessels have remained clear of the
The Com Guard Second Fleet operates from the fleet base active combat zones. The squadron comprises the Congress-
at Ross 248. Precentor Gardot's command comprises the class Hollings York; the Aegis-class Avenging Sword; and the
Black Lion-class Blake's Strength; the Dante-class Narbonne; Essex-class Deathblow and Brandenburg Crusader.
the Suffren-class Manchester; t he Lola IIklass Blake 's Vision
and Ranger; the Volga-class Enlightened Path; the Essex-class Independent Vessels
Defender of Versailles; the Vincent-cl ass Resilience and The Faslane-class vessels Roslare and Galamorgan are
Determination; and the Faslane-class yard ships Plymouth and
Dun Laoghaire. currently on detached duty from the fleet, based at the Deep
Periphery Columb us faci lity to ensure the continued operation
First Independent Squadron of JumpShips and DropShips belonging to the Explorer Corps.
5 ships/Veteran/Fanatical
CO: Precentor II Kristin Helmlinger

44

WORD OF BLAKE

Though unreceived and scoffed at through the years; a believer in the tru e writings of the Blessed Blake, for sanctu-
Though made the butt of ridicule and j est; ary. He agre ed.

Though held aloft for mockery and j eers, Incred ib le numbers of ComStar refugees soon poured into
Denied by those of transient power possessed, Marik space, se parating th emselves int o various factions as
they arri ved. They called themselves the Wo rd of Blake. Marik
Insulted by the insolence of lies, met with the factions' le aders to determine what to do with the
Truth never dies. refugees; they decided that the Free World s League planet of
-Author Unknown , "Truth Never Dies" Gibson would become the Word of Blake' s new homeworld and
th at the HPG stations throughout his re al m would be serviced
Formed during the crucible of ComStar's reform at ion fol- by Word of Blake members , as Marik realized th at Co mStar was
lowing the Battle of Tukayyid, and dismi ssed by many as a no longer worthy of th at duty. A grateful Aziz named him Word
harmless bunch of fanatics , the Word of Bl ake has shown it s of Blake's Primus-in-Exile, and the others followed her lead.
true might in recent years with the liberation of Terra and the
entire Sol system. Now that the cradle of hum anity lies in our The Rul ing Conclave also formed at that meet ing. Lacking
hands, people across the Inner Sphere have begu n to take a true Prim us , and the cooperation necessary to elect one, the
noti ce and , in many cases , join our cause. In t he spirit of coop- faction s chose instead to form a council made up of th e head s
eration and at the request of Primus-in-Exile Thom as Marik , we of t he four biggest factions , with the much-respected Precentor
have put together this profile of our militar y for the First Lord of William Bl an e mediating disputes. The Precentor Martial wa s
the Star League, and we hope he sees fit to allow us member- also made a me mber of the Conclave . Al t hough faction s have
ship soon. come and gone , a total of four are still represented on the
Con c lave.
We await the recogn ition owed us.
-Alexander Kernoff, Precentor ROM of Wo rd of Bl ake FROM GIBSON TO TERRA
The people of Gibson did not respond well to mass occu-
17 March 3062
pation by th e Word of Blake, and guerrilla upris ings became fre-
HISTORICAL DATA quent. In 3053, a full-blown guerrilla war with revolution ari es
known as the Gibson Freedom League erupted. The war lasted
Until the Battle of Tukayyi d, the Word of Bla ke's hi story is until early 3055, when a confusing large-scale battle broke out
the sa me as ComStar's. I have assumed th at you ca n get pre- bet ween th e Word of Blake Militia, the Knights of t he Inner
Tukayyid information from ComStar, since they seem to feel Sphere, th e Gi bson Freedom League and units from the
sharing knowledge is so important. Princi pality of Regulus. The battle ended in t he use of a tactical
nuclea r weapon by the Freedom League; the shock effectively
REFORMATION AND SEPARATION concluded th e war. We turned over the leader who had caused
The history of the Word of Blake as separate fro m ComStar th e confusi on within our ranks to ROM to determine the cause
of hi s actions . The nuclear incident, indicative of the thre at
begins du ring the Battle of Tukayyid . Th e sainte d Pri mus Myndo posed by unh appy Gibsonites, helped speed the t imetable of
Waterl y had put Operation Scorpion into action, a plan to save the Word of Blake's next objective: the liberation of Terra fro m
th e Inner Sphere from sinking into barbarism in the face of the ComSta r.
Clans. The traitor Anastasius Focht and his pu ppet Sharilar
Mori chose to murder Primus Waterly, an act both wi ll pay for in The plans to liberate Terra began to take form in 3057,
due time. Focht installed Mori as the new Primu s, and ComStar du ring t he Liao-Marik invasion of the Sarna March. Though mil-
began its downfall. itary aid was generally beyond our means at t he tim e, we sup-
ported th e rightful invasion with communicati ons aid wherever
Reformation began when the devil Focht produced a t ech- poss ible. In the turmoil, Word of Blake Militia captured HPG sta-
nical readout he claimed was authored by Jerom e Bl ake, which t ions throughout the region and moved three full divisions into
stated that ComStar's true goal was to spread kn owledge to striking distan ce of Terra undetected. Fate provid ed the next
mankind, rather than hide and protect it. Mori used this bl as- step : Brion's Legion, the mercenary unit hi red by Com Star to
phemy as the basis for swee ping reforms th at dis honored prot ect Te rra , chose not to re-sign their contract, no doubt due
everything Jerome Blake had stood for. Many, however, were t o dissatisfaction with the heretics ' treatment of them. Com
outraged at this violation of sacred ideas, including Precentor Guard officia ls replaced them with the Twenty-First Ce ntauri
Demona Aziz. Aziz was precentor of Atreus and a member of the Lancers, an elite mercenary unit.
Fi rst Circuit, so many followed her wh en she fled to the Free
Worlds League to avoid persecution. Once th ere, Aziz peti t ioned
Captain-General Thomas Marik, an ex-member of ComStar and

45

Militia units made planetfall on the Lancers' base world Bel l. Be ll was captured , interrogat ed, and executed for his
and convinced the Lancers that servi ng Com Star was a poor cri me. This horrible act shocked the Word of Blake, which held
choice. The Lancers offered to kee p a low prof ile fo r several a mass fu neral for t he civili ans killed in the explosion . When t he
months , allowing the Militia to assu me the ir ide ntities and Ru ling Conclave reconvened , they chose t he rising star St.
begin the salvation of Terra. We honor th e Lancers for t heir Jamais to be Precentor Martial. Supported, surpris ingly, by
actions, despite the lies they told about us to exonerate t hem- powerf ul members of all factions , St. Jamais gained his posi-
selves . The Word of Blake then reorgan ized two divi sions to tion despite his relative inexperience. This was due, no doubt,
match the composition of the Lancers and went to Terra mas- to his strong faith in t he ways of Blake , which impressed the
querading as the elite un it. entire Conclave.

On 28 February 3058 , we in it iated Operation Odys seus, as Just a few mont hs later, disast er st ruck again. The
t he liberation was called. A compute r engineer who knew th e Shunners faction, wh ich had wit hd rawn to a concl ave on Venus,
truth about the new ComStar 's pervers ions used a hidden back we re ne arly all ki lled when the atmosphere stabi lization device
door in the ComStar compute rs to trap a large number of Com fo r their small dome city catastrophically failed. This dreadful
Guard troops in the ir bases and then ch anged the security event left t he Shun ners a t iny faction , and they lost their seat
codes. He was later shot by heretic troops , but we honor his on the Rul ing Concl ave, to be replaced several months later by
memory. At the same time , the disguised Mi litia began moving the Expat riates.
agai nst ComStar fac ilities all over the world. That night, the rest
of t he Word of Blake army, with the notable absence of non-offi- ORGANIZATION
cer Toyama members , who were busy with mi ss ions elsewhere, AND COMMAND
arrived in-system, turning aside heret ic defenders and di sabling
Com Star Space Defen se System site s with comma ndo The Word of Blake Militi a uses the same unit organizations
assaults. In about a week, Terra returned to the contro l of th e as ComStar, except that no Level V (army) units are currently
Word of Blake, where it rightfully belongs. active in the Militia. The ranks are also identical , except for
Demi-Precentor; in the Word of Blake, Demi-Precentor is still an
There were some loose ends , however. Small poc kets of unofficial rank. Demi-Precentors are officially either senior
ComStar resistance and guerrilla activity persisted for close to adepts (with ten or more years at t hat ran k) or junior precentors
three years , though we have now quieted t hem. Reopen ing all (with five or fewe r yea rs at that rank) . The command structure ,
of the bases the murdered engineer cl osed took t ime; t hose however, is organ ized a bit differently.
bases are now on-line and occupied, including all twenty Castle
Brians. The Word of Blake fleet had been unable to take the COMMAND STRUCTURE
Titan shipyards , which allowed the traitor order a foothold in th e Though the Precentor Martial has nominal control of the
system. This problem was solved two mont hs ago, when
Precentor Klaus Hettig, who was in charge of the shipyards , entire milita ry, his orders must go through various channels,
gave up the redemption of ComStar f rom wit hi n and returned t o and he must take orders f rom the Ruling Conclave . The struc-
the fold. He cleared the facil ity of un believers, leavi ng us a ture is fa irly straightforward and works quite well.
smal l window to liberate the yards befo re the heretics realized
they had been tricked. Currently, the enti re Sol system be longs Ruling Conclave
to the Word of Blake. All Militia units have been moved t here The Ruling Conclave is t he decision-maki ng body of the
fro m Gibson , as have most non-milita ry personnel.
Word of Blake and is made up of the heads of the four largest
RECENT EVENTS fact ions, plus the Precento r Marti al. Any military actions other
The years following Odys seus have bee n a period of t han the defense of Word of Bl ake holdings or personne l must
be approved by t he Conclave. The Precentor Martial is also
upheavals for the Word of Blake. Later in 3058, Precentor answerable to the Conclave and can be removed by them;
Demona Aziz died of natural causes while t raveling in the th ough t he Precentor Martial is a mem ber of t he Conclave, he
Periphery. Her repl acement as head of the Toyamas was is excluded from votes concerning hi m.
Ca meron St. Jamai s, a newly made precentor and leader of a
small subsect. St. Jam ais proved to be quite capab le of lead- * * *Transmission Altered * * *
ing the Toyamas.
"Again I say that the greatest mistake, the most final error,
More change came on 6 Jun e 3061 . Then-Precentor shall come from peaceful people. A single, terrible choice will
Mart ial Trent Ari an and his aide, Precentor Suzanne Mu lvanery,
were traveling in an armored car in London whe n an explosion destroy them. It is a decision that is near at hand. "
ripped th rough the vehicle, killi ng both instantly and dest roying * * *Alterat ion Ended * * *
seve ra l buildings. Investigation showed that th e explosion was
due to a bomb planted by a heretic insurgent named Darius Precentor Martial
The overall commander of the Militia is t he Precentor

Martial , who is appointed by the members of t he Ruling

48

Conclave. The current Precentor Marti al is Cameron St . Jamais, a relat ive unknown UlORD OF BLAME FflCTlOnS
wh o replaced Demona Aziz as head of the Toya m a upon her death , th en vaulted to
his new position on the death of Trent Ari an and th e stro ng support of Precentor Though there are qu ite a few small fac-
Blane. Since gai ning his new ran k, St . Jamais has increased t he size of the Mil it ia tions and sub-sects withi n the Wo rd of Blake,
conside rably and consol idated the Wo rd of Blake ' s position in the Sol system . on ly the largest are re presente d on the Ruling
Conc lave.
The Precentor Martial has an advi sory st aff of th ree precentors, who help hi m
keep a handle on military matters. The Precentor Quartermaster ensures th at the Counter-Reformists: The smallest of the fac-
proper supplies get to the troops of th e Milit ia and oversees purchase s of non-
weaponry equi pment. The Precentor Arms is respons ible for purchases of weapon- tion s on th e Conclave, the Counter- Reformists
ry and war machines, including BattleMechs . The Precentor Li aison , the final advis- fee l that Blake's wo rd may have been tainted
er, ensures good relations with allies of t he Word of Blake-mainly t he Free World s over the years and shou ld be revised where
League , but also me rcenaries . necessary, th ough not to the extreme s of
Focht's Com Star. They skate the ed ge of
As sh ou ld be expected, St. Jama is made some changes when he took ove r. In heresy, and are led by Precentor Willima
additi on t o increasing th e size of t he Militia , he replaced the Precentor Willi s.
Quartermaster an d the Precentor Arms , expl aini ng t hat he was dissatisfied with
th ei r per fo rm ance. Thei r re placements are producing roughly the sa me qu ality of Expatriates: This facti on replaced the
work, but St. Jamais seems pleased with th em.
Sh unners on the Conclave wh en it was
Precentor ROM formed in early 3062. When Victor Steiner-
ROM, t he feared intelligence and intern al-security arm of the Word of Blake, is Davion was named Precentor Martial of
ComStar, many Com Guard offic ers and lead-
technically part of the Militia, though they se ldom act togeth er. Even so, t he ers who knew Blake's Truth and were trying to
Precentor ROM reports direct ly t o the Precentor Martia l, t hough t he Rul ing redeem the traitor order from within realized
Conclave can al so issue orders in ti me of great need or if t he Precentor Martial is th at their mission had become impossible .
unavailable. The current Precentor ROM is Al exander Kern off, who is also head of Many of them left for the Word of Blake and
the Toyama and a member of t he Ruling Conclave . The Precentor ROM has h[s own became the Expatriates . They will remain
advisory staff, drawn from ROM's va st membership, but thei r names and exact Expatriates until they decide on a true faction -
duties are withheld for security reason s. al bent. They are led by Precento r Klaus
Hettig .
Precentor Naval
A recently est ablished positi on, t he Precentor Naval is in cha rge of the naval Toyama: Named for the sai nt an d stud ent of

arm of t he Mi litia, fro m DropSh ips and JumpSh ips to WarS hips and the Titan sh ip- Blake , Conrad Toyama, this is the most radi -
yards. Th e Precentor Naval reports di rect ly to the Precentor Martial and often cal of th e leading factions. They believe that
works closely with the Precento r Quartermaster to ensure that supplies get whe re til e Word of Blake must lead the rest of the
th ey are needed. Though the Militia curre ntly only fields two WarShips, th e Vincent- Inner Sp here to Blake's Truth, by whatever
cla ss WoBS Blake 's Redemption and the Essex-class WoBS Deliverance, fou r more means necessary. The cu rrent Precentor
salvaged Star League ships are undergoi ng repairs at Titan and shou ld be active ROM, Alexan der Ke rnoff, is the head of the
within two years. The current Precentor Naval is Gregory Zwick, who commanded Toyamas, and Precentor Martial St. Jamais is
t he Militia attack fleet during Operat ion Odysseus . Zwick is a Co unter-Reformi st . Toyama as well, giving th em an advantage on
th e Conclave.
Division Commanders
Division commanders are appointed by the Precentor Ma rt ial and report t o him True Believers: Thou gh "true bel iever" is

or his designated representative. Tho ugh the Prece ntor Martia l considers ski lls ofte n used outsi de our order to describe any
quite carefully wh en he chooses his com manders , factio nal po lit ics pl ay almost as Word of Blake member, True Believers are , in
large a role as abi lity. Subordinates repo rt t o their immediate superiors in a stan- reality, a moderate facti on. Only slightly larger
dard chain of comm and, with th e commanders of each Level III re porting to t heir t han the Toyamas , the True Bel ievers are
respective divi sion comm ander. diplomatic an d generally nonvi olent, though
th ey are not pacifists. They push for under-
Mercenaries standing among the various factions , feeling
Mercenary commanders report to th e Precentor Liaison or to an officially that the Word of Blake should unify within
befo re it leads the rest of the Inner Sphere to
appointed liaison. The lies told by t he Twenty-Fi rst Centauri Lancers have driven Truth. Precentor William Blane , an old friend
some mercenaries away from us, but many units are intelligent enough to investi- of Thomas Marik's, leads this faction.
gate ou r t reatme nt of mercena ries t hemselves. Current ly, several units are con-
tracted by the militia, including Smithson's Chinese Bandits and the Fifty-first Dark

47

Shunners: Until recently, the Shunners were Panzer Jaegers. The largest unit un der contract is Herman's Hermits, under
on the Ruling Conclave. They believe that the Colonel Herman Aufko pfe n. They have been employed by the Militia for some time
destruction of the Inner Sphere is coming and now, and have recently moved from Terra to Gibson , where they have taken up gar-
the only way to survive is to isolate them- rison duties .
selves. They moved en masse to a refuge
dome city on Venus in 3059, and nearly all ACADEMIES AND TRAINING
members were killed when the machinery
maintaining their atmosphere exploded. The training of new Word of Blake Militia members takes place at one of three
Though we found no proof, ROM believes the academies, the "War Triad " of the old Star League : Sandhurst Royal Military
explosion was caused by a heretic bomb. The College on Terra , the War Academy of Mars, and the Military Academy of Aphros
S~lunners are currently led by Precentor on Venus. Until 3058, Fort Tukayyid and Camp Sims on Gibson were used as acad-
Clementine Turner. emies, but they were transfe rred to mercenary control following the mass migra-
tion to Terra.

SANDHURST ROYAL MILITARY COLLEGE
Famous as the best military academy of the old Star League, Sandhurst has been the major school of ComStar and now the

Word of Blake since Operation Silver Shield claimed Terra for ComStar in 2788 . Originally used as a training school for ROM, it was
re-converted to a military academy in 2933 and has been producing warriors ever since. Sandhurst also acted as the Com Guards'
headquarters until 3058, and we immediately reopened it following Operation Odysseus.

Sandhurst accepts Militia cadets from across the Inner Sphere and Periphery, though they must all undergo intense background
checks . The first six months of training is the same for each of the courses, and concentrates on the principles of combined arms
and on basic exercise and toughening drills. Also included is an indoctrination course, which teaches students the philosophies of
the Blessed Blake. Failure of this course results in ejection from the college.

Sandhurst offers a wide range of courses, including MechWarrior, armor, and infantry (standard and battle armor), as well as
technician. The top students from basic training receive training as officers. The atmosphere of Sandhurst is cooperative, as the
lessons learned in combined-arms courses take hold. A religious devotion to the Word of Blake also begins to appear, a fanatical
drive that draws the cadets together. Those cadets who graduate Sandhurst are promoted to acolyte and assigned to a Militia unit.
More important, however, is their choice of faction, which they offici ally ma ke at graduation. Officer trainees are promoted to acolyte
after two years of study and graduate a year after that as adepts.

WAR ACADEMY OF MARS (WAMl
The War Academy of Mars once served as the strategy headquarters for the old SLDF. It now serves as the training facility for

ROM, as well as training MechWarriors and armor crews. The WAM was reactivated in 3059 and has already begun developing a
friendly rivalry with Sandhurst. Except for ROM cadets, students at WAM are there because Sandhurst was full when they enrolled.
This has helped fuel the rivalry, as WAM cadets strive to prove they are better than the cadets of a school they couldn't get into.

Training common to all courses includes low-gravity classes, which acclimate the students to the environment of Mars; com-
bined-arms courses; and an indoctrination class like that of Sandhurst. The WAM offers MechWarrior and armor MOS (Military
Occupation Specialties), as well as ROM training in various specialties. The school plans to add infantry courses soon, but there is
no firm date for their introduction yet. As with Sandhurst, the best cadets receive officer training. The rivalry with Sandhurst draws
the students together and creates a friendly, comradely atmosphere, though that bond also drives them to try to exceed their com-
panions. ROM cadets, however, are kept separate from the rest of the WAM and rarely see the other students.

Graduation as a cadet grants a promotion to acolyte and placement with a Militia unit. The best of the new acolytes are assigned
as second-in-command of a Level II. Officer trainees are promoted to acolyte after two years of study, and graduate a year after that
as adepts. New ROM agents are assigned to an experienced agent as a partner and begin missions immediately.

MILITARY ACADEMY OF APHROS (MAAl
A major center of the old SLDF's Gunslinger program, the Military Academy of Aphros is the only remaining domed city on Venus,

following the loss of the Shunners' enclave. All civilians were fo rced t o move in 3061, when the MAA was reopened. As most of
Venus' atmospheric stabilization stations have failed since the time of the old Star League, Venus has reverted to its hellish atmos-
phere, so only aerospace pilots and naval crews train here.

The MAA accepts only one hundred aerospace pilots and three hundred naval crewmen for each three-year program, although
it plans to increase this number soon. Competition is fierce, and only the most promising candidates are chosen. Those who don't
make it into the MAA sometimes enter a Free Worlds League Academy and return to the Word of Blake after graduation.

48