Catalyst 35FR012 - Field Report 2765 - LCAF [2014].pdf

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STAR LEAGUE PLOT SUPPLEMENT
In 2765, the Star League
Defense Force was the
greatest military ever as
unparalleled in numbers
sembled,
and technological prowes
s—but it was not alone. Th
and the rules of the Territo
e House Lords
rial States in the Periphery
each amassed armies of th
none of these powers alon
eir own. While
e could challenge the shee
r size and might of the SL
ready to defend their own
DF, each stood
interests against the avarice
of their neighbors.
Field Report 2765: LCAF
desc
ribes the state of House Stei
ner’s Lyran Commonwealth
just before the events desc
ribed in
Historical: Liberatio
n of Terra (Part 1)
, including
the overall military and lo
gistical condition of one
of the Great Houses that
eventually survive the colla
would
pse of the Star League and
face a new age of endless
war.
STAR LEAGUE ERA CLAN INVASION
ERA
®
GATHERING FORCES…
JIHAD ERA
ERA
DARK AGE ERA
©2014 The Topps Company Inc
. All Rights Reserved. BattleTech
Field Report 2765: LCAF, Classic
and ’Mech are registered tra
BattleTech, BattleTech, BattleM
demarks and/or trademarks
ech,
of The Topps Company Inc. in
Catalyst Game Labs and the
the United States and/or oth
Catalyst Game Labs logo are
er countries.
trademarks of InMediaRes Pro
ductions, LLC.
SUCCESSION WARS ERA
CIVIL WAR
TO: Aleksandr Kerensky
FROM: Aaron DeChavilier
Date: 1 May 2765
Alex,
Oh, these “peace-loving” Lyrans! The last of the House
Lords’ realms, their recent actions not only make them the
least likely to trouble us in the future, but also the easiest
to compile this report on. Expect the Lyrans to stick to
manufacturing as their involvement in military operations
for the next decade. Of course, this could easily be altered
by Marik, Amaris, or (more likely) Kuritan plans to the
contrary. I know you spent some time on Tharkad, so feel
to add your insights.
—Aaron
TO: All RAF Brigade Commands
FROM: Brigadier General Evan Falange
Date: 27 October 3090
As part of our ongoing follow-up series to the SLDF
readiness report forwarded to all general officers, the
following is the Lyran-focused military intelligence overview
prepared for SLDFCOM prior to the Amaris Crisis. As ever,
these reports are intended to provide historical perspective
and context for the earlier SLDF source material, while
familiarizing our commanders with the histories behind the
military forces they might face in the future.
—Brigadier General Evan Falange, for the RAFHQ
2765 Field Report: Lyran Commonwealth
is a
BattleTech
supplement designed to provide players with information about the state of the Lyran
Commonwealth Armed Forces (LCAF) on the eve of the Amaris Coup (and before the violence of the Succession Wars).
This first section of this book—the
Commonwealth Overview—is
divided into two broad sections, a
Strategic Update
and the
Goals of the State.
Strategic Update
is a brief overview of the LCAF’s current condition and perceived objectives, while
Goals of the State
presents the political and suspected
military benchmarks the Lyrans are likely to use in the future.
The next chapter,
Logistical Status,
covers the state of
Academies and Command Centers
throughout the Commonwealth, while
Infrastructural
Integrity
will present an overview of the state of LCAF support prior to the civil war.
The next chapter,
Military Readiness,
will present a specific update on the status, officers, and notable events of the various brigades of the LCAF,
with an eye toward their likely future employment. Included are ratings for the experience and estimated combat strengths of each regiment within the
subject brigade.
Finally,
Irregular Forces
covers the prominent state-employed mercenaries and other irregular forces.
HOW TO USE THIS BOOK
CREDITS
Project Development:
Herbert A. Beas II
Development Assistance:Joel
Bancroft-Connors
BattleTech Line Developer:
Herbert A. Beas II
Writing:
Ken Horner
Strategic Assistance:
Øystein Tvedten
Production Staff
Cover Design:
Ray Arrastia
Layout:
Kara Hamilton
Evolved Faction Logos Design:
Jason Vargas
Map:
Øystein Tvedten
Record Sheets:
David Kerber
Factchecking/Playtesting:
Joel Bancroft-
Connors, Nicholai Duda, Joshua Franklin, William
Gauthier, Keith Hann, Johannes Heidler, Daniel
Isberner, Chris Marti, Luke Robertson, Andreas
Rudolph, Chris Wheeler, Patrick Wynne
Special Thanks:
Thanks to the love of
my life, my fiancée wife, Cherie. Thanks for
embracing me and my hobby.
Developer’s Thanks:
A very huge thanks
to Joel Bancroft-Connors for helping me get this
series done!
Developer’s Note:
For more information
about the Lyran Commonwealth Armed Forces,
or the state of warfare before and during the
Star League see
Historical: Reunification War, Era
Report 2750, Field Manual: SLDF,
and
Historical:
Liberation of Terra Vol I and Vol II.
1
2
OPERATION CATALOG
The public perception is that the Star League is a
happy unity, with only a few problematic parties on the
edges. The truth isn’t nearly so neat, but in an effort to
keep up the appearance of peace over the larger whole
of human-occupied space, reality has been “massaged”
by the Star League’s best public relations experts. In
actuality, the various realms lived in such perpetual
state of distrust and barely disguised hostility that
diplomatic catastrophes loomed almost every year.
Many of the political crises that plagued the
Star League were military in nature, or mired in the
politics of the Inner Sphere’s neo-feudalism, but some
were less about staging “pirate raids” or making claims
on the thrones of neighboring states, and more a
struggle against a wholly different sort of corruption.
An example of this was the often-overlooked events
surrounding Operation CATALOG, a campaign that
began as a “police action” aimed at widespread
criminal activity near the Free Worlds border, but soon
led to ramifications affecting the LCAF as well.
CATALOG began as an extensive internal
investigation into reports of widespread graft and
corruption, mostly among the local governments,
police, and militia on several worlds along the
Commonwealth’s border with the Free Worlds. Its
focus was mainly on the region between the Bolan
Thumb and the coreward reaches of the Rim Worlds
Republic, where many worlds had only been settled
in the centuries since the Star League’s foundation.
In short order, the Lyran authorities conducting the
investigation learned that the corruption actually
reached the ranks of several LCAF military commands.
CATALOG exposed what turned out to be an
interlocking alliance of organized cartels that the
Commonwealth government even suspected of
crossing state borders into the Free Worlds League and
Rim Worlds Republic. In an effort to shatter this super-
cartel, police arrested several prominent members of
the various regional governments and as many of their
military and corporate accomplices as they could root
out. Most of these ringleaders went quietly, but in a
few cases—like a colonial governments on Al Jafr and
Maisons—open conflict erupted.
Forced to use sterner measures, the LCAF was
called in to deal with these criminals-turned-rebels,
not only to make arrests and restore order, but to
discourage any possible military opportunism from
COMMONWEALTH OVERVIEW
Martial prowess have never been a part of the Lyran national identity the way it
is in the Draconis Combine, but it would be a mistake to view the Commonwealth’s
warriors as less than capable or afraid of conflict. The LCAF’s mid-level officers might
suffer from an inordinate focus on politics and social ties, but the rest of the military is as
trained and professional as those in any of the other Houses. While the Commonwealth
is, generally speaking, an exemplary member of the Star League, recent events have
shown that even this realm is not immune to belligerence and poor decision making.
STRATEGIC UPDATE
As with the other House militaries, the LCAF have seen a rapid expansion of its
forces in recent years. Taking the rest of the Inner Sphere by surprise, this surge was not
an ad-hoc rush but an amazing jump in both equipment and combat-ready troops. The
LCAF was not only able to tap the tremendous industrial capacity of the Lyran state, but
also raided the rosters of many of its nobility’s retinues for veteran warriors. This trick
granted the Commonwealth a remarkable boost in its fighting strength, but at a more
telling cost to its best reserve forces in the short term.
Each of the three Lyran sub-states operate as separate defense zones, further
subdivided into smaller districts each commanded by a margrave. Although the LCAF
High Command works to direct the entirety of the realm’s military as one unified
organization, in theory the margraves allow for quicker response time in local crises,
and a streamlined coordination for all troops at the regional level. In reality, this often
grants immense control over a large swath of military forces to one person, creating
a system that generally works, but which also can produce some spectacular failures.
The competency of individual Lyran soldiers and officers cannot be assumed to
be poor, yet the “social general” stereotype persists, and bears some weight in affecting
Lyran battlefield effectiveness. When looking at the LCAF as a whole, this phenomenon
is most evident among the mid-level officers, who are undoubtedly the weakest link
in the chain of command. Where knowing the right people and riding the coattails of
others are far from new concepts in any of today’s realms, it is far more pronounced in
the LCAF than any other modern military. When fighting the Lyrans, getting them to
divide their forces into companies or battalions will accentuate their weak commanders,
and can be used to isolate their stronger forces for piecemeal destruction as their less
capable leaders fail to support them.
The greatest strength of the Commonwealth’s military lies in its logistical support,
undoubtedly the best of any nation beyond the Terran Hegemony itself. The SLDF
may enjoy better logistics in the Hegemony and perhaps even in Commonwealth
territory, but it suffers elsewhere—especially in the Periphery—due to the sheer size
of its operational area. When the Lyran state is on war footing, its manufacturers and
transportation chains step up, and keep their soldiers equipped with whatever they
need to defend the realm. This works great as long as the lines of support are clear, so
any long-term action against the Commonwealth would best utilize deep strikes to
minimize this distinct advantage.
CONTINUED ON P. 4
3

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