| #2JuumsMar 21, 2011 0:14:09 | “That cacophonous thundering in the distance? It heralds only a coming rain of Cyrans.”
--Maj. Gen. Adalstan ir’Erdei, 21st Risen Grenadiers, at the Battle of Beyaren in 992 A.K.
One of the premiere divisions of the Kingdom of Cyre, the 15th Arcane Guards Division – colloquially referred to as the Storm Cavaliers due to their mode of conveyance – dates from 963 A.K., though its constituent parts trace their lineage far deeper into Galifar’s history. An aerial assault division, the Storm Cavaliers served on every major front and provided the Cyran crown with a unique option to deploy in any situation that demanded both firepower and operational mobility.
History & Operational Overview
The Storm Cavaliers were born in 890, as part of Jarot I’s expansion of Galifar’s imperial army. The court of Jarot I was approached by an elf by the name of Xellik bearing a strange beast, a lesser dragon it called a storm drake: Upon investigation of the beast, it derived its name from the potency of its thundering breath weapon and its agility when navigating a storm. Xellik offered to raise a regiment of five-hundred of the beasts, to enter into service of the Galifarian crown: Impressed by the beasts, Jarot agreed, and House Vadalis was immediately brought in to bring the magical expertise required to produce the number of storm drakes in the necessary time. (What Xellik told no one was that he himself was a bronze dragon and that the storm drakes were his own half-dragon progeny, bred from drakkensteeds he had smuggled out of Argonnesson.) The work of raising the regiment was undertaken at a newly built aerie at Kennerick, approximately fifty miles west of Seaside. Later aeries would be established at Kalazart, Metrol, and Gatherhold.
By the time of Jarot’s death, the Imperial Dragonriding Regiment was sufficiently established that Mishann immediately took control of it upon her assumption of the crown of Galifar and pressed the then extant forces into the war of succession as the Queen’s Own Dragonrider Regiment, which immediately saw service on the Karrnathi front. The Queen’s Own Dragonriders would serve with distinction for almost seven decades in over a dozen larger formations, before finally finding a permanent home in 963.
By 960, a young staff officer and artificer-by-training by the name of Alvos Brillik was working on the problems posed by the rise of defense-in-depth tactics and the ubiquity of improved defense features such as magewright-wrought multiline trenchworks and steelvine. His mind hit upon a manner of vertical envelopment to solve the increasingly defensive nature of warfare: To use magic to simply levitate assaulting infantry over defensive obstacles and allow them to attack at the desired objective. Such was not new: Limited usage of such types of rituals had been in use since at least 907, if not earlier, but they had always suffered from the fact that both the assault troops and their magical elevators tended to be incredibly vulnerable. What would be ideal would be to shroud the assaulting infantry in some form of inclement weather, to act as both an obscurant and shield against enemy attack: Better still would be if the storm itself could be made to provide the motive force instead of the ritual casters. After three years of painstaking research and even more painstaking negotiations with House Lyrander and House Cannith, he had succeeded in hammering out a plan to transfer to the Cyran military the necessary ritual knowledge and setting up a supply chain sufficient to allow for their usage in the volume he was envisioning. The creation of Brillik’s storm-based aerial envelopment formation was green-lit as part of the Cyran army’s 963 reformation plan, with the units selected consisting of the Queen’s Own Dragonrider Regiment and another ancient formation, the 3rd Imperial Foote Regiment, whose roots traced back to the tricentennial anniversary of Galifar’s creation. The two units were supplemented by a virgin infantry formation, the 109th Arcane Foote Regiment, to form the 15th Arcane Foote Division. (The actions of the 15th Arcane Foote, and the 3rd Imperial Foot Regiment in-particular, during the crisis precipitated by Darguun’s declaration of independence would earn both the Guards title.)
The standard method of operations for the Storm Cavaliers was based upon Brillik’s ideal. In an attacking situation, the arcana elements within its organizational structure would summon great storms, while its infantry elements, thoroughly drilled in the art of arcane movement, would use the storms to provide a means of aerial conveyance and cover from enemy fire while traversing their way to their objective. Upon arriving at the objective, some infantry elements would storm the target via freefalling upon it, while others would remain within the storm to provide fire support from above. The integrated dragonriding elements provide organic aerial superiority support to screen the storm to and from its objective, as well as provide useful aerial support against heavy weaponry which may be trained against the advancing storm that cannot readily be dealt with by the infantry moving within it.
[*Mechanical Aside: If all of that sounds entirely too convoluted, consider this mechanical explanation: Ritual-casters create storms. The infantry are essentially Stormlords from 3.5e’s Complete Divine, only without the divine-casting component, when it comes to walking/flying within a storm.]
Table of Organization & Equipment
15th Arcane Guards Division [13,304 men / 1,455 drakes]
Queen’s Own Dragonrider Regiment [3,425 men / 1,455 drakes]
1st Cuirassier Guards Battalion [618 men / 291 drakes]
1st Cuirassier Guards Squadron [194 men / 97 drakes]
2nd Cuirassier Guards Squadron [194 men / 97 drakes]
111th Winged Cuirassier Squadron [194 men / 97 drakes]
Headquarters Squadron [36 men]
3rd Cuirassier Guards Battalion [618 men / 291 drakes]
5th Cuirassier Guards Squadron [194 men / 97 drakes]
12th Winged Cuirassier Squadron [194 men / 97 drakes]
35th Winged Cuirassier Squadron [194 men / 97 drakes]
Headquarters Squadron [36 men]
4th Winged Cuirassier Battalion [618 men / 291 drakes]
3rd Cuirassier Guards Squadron [194 men / 97 drakes]
8th Winged Cuirassier Squadron [194 men / 97 drakes]
27th Winged Cuirassier Squadron [194 men / 97 drakes]
Headquarters Squadron [36 men]
59th Winged Cuirassier Battalion [618 men / 291 drakes]
151st Winged Cuirassier Squadron [194 men / 97 drakes]
152nd Winged Cuirassier Squadron [194 men / 97 drakes]
181st Winged Cuirassier Squadron [194 men / 97 drakes]
Headquarters Squadron [36 men]
76th Winged Cuirassier Battalion [618 men / 291 drakes]
221st Winged Cuirassier Squadron [194 men / 97 drakes]
222nd Winged Cuirassier Squadron [194 men / 97 drakes]
223rd Winged Cuirassier Squadron [194 men / 97 drakes]
Headquarters Squadron [36 men]
Headquarters & Supply Battalion [335 men]
Battalion HQ Squadron [124 men]
Logistics Squadron [132 men]
Medical Troop [44 men]
Signals Troop [35 men]
3rd Imperial Foote Guards Regiment [3,841 men]
5th Imperial Foote Battalion [678 men]
Foote Company A [131 men]
Foote Company B [131 men]
Foote Company C [131 men]
Foote Company D [131 men]
Wand Company E [81 men]
Arcana Platoon [26 men]
Headquarters Company [47 men]
6th Imperial Foote Battalion [678 men]
Foote Company A [131 men]
Foote Company B [131 men]
Foote Company C [131 men]
Foote Company D [131 men]
Wand Company E [81 men]
Arcana Platoon [26 men]
Headquarters Company [47 men]
9th Imperial Foote Battalion [678 men]
Foote Company A [131 men]
Foote Company B [131 men]
Foote Company C [131 men]
Foote Company D [131 men]
Wand Company E [81 men]
Arcana Platoon [26 men]
Headquarters Company [47 men]
10th Imperial Foote Battalion [678 men]
Foote Company A [131 men]
Foote Company B [131 men]
Foote Company C [131 men]
Foote Company D [131 men]
Wand Company E [81 men]
Arcana Platoon [26 men]
Headquarters Company [47 men]
13th Imperial Foote Battalion [678 men]
Foote Company A [131 men]
Foote Company B [131 men]
Foote Company C [131 men]
Foote Company D [131 men]
Wand Company E [81 men]
Arcana Platoon [26 men]
Headquarters Company [47 men]
Headquarters & Supply Battalion [451 men]
Battalion HQ Company [142 men]
Logistics Company [159 men]
Engineering Company [74 men]
Medical Platoon [41 men]
Signals Platoon [35 men]
109th Arcane Foote Regiment [3,841 men]
299th Arcane Foote Battalion [678 men]
Foote Company A [131 men]
Foote Company B [131 men]
Foote Company C [131 men]
Foote Company D [131 men]
Wand Company E [81 men]
Arcana Platoon [26 men]
Headquarters Company [47 men]
351st Arcane Foote Battalion [678 men]
Foote Company A [131 men]
Foote Company B [131 men]
Foote Company C [131 men]
Foote Company D [131 men]
Wand Company E [81 men]
Arcana Platoon [26 men]
Headquarters Company [47 men]
352nd Arcane Foote Battalion [678 men]
Foote Company A [131 men]
Foote Company B [131 men]
Foote Company C [131 men]
Foote Company D [131 men]
Wand Company E [81 men]
Arcana Platoon [26 men]
Headquarters Company [47 men]
363rd Arcane Foote Battalion [678 men]
Foote Company A [131 men]
Foote Company B [131 men]
Foote Company C [131 men]
Foote Company D [131 men]
Wand Company E [81 men]
Arcana Platoon [26 men]
Headquarters Company [47 men]
379th Arcane Foote Battalion [678 men]
Foote Company A [131 men]
Foote Company B [131 men]
Foote Company C [131 men]
Foote Company D [131 men]
Wand Company E [81 men]
Arcana Platoon [26 men]
Headquarters Company [47 men]
Headquarters & Supply Battalion [451 men]
Battalion HQ Company [142 men]
Logistics Company [159 men]
Engineering Company [74 men]
Medical Platoon [41 men]
Signals Platoon [35 men]
Headquarters, Supply, and Support Regiment [2,197 men]
Division HQ Battalion [322 men]
Quartermaster Battalion [541 men]
Heavy Engineering Battalion [394 men]
Heavy Arcana Battalion [241 men]
Signals Battalion [231 men]
Recce & Intelligence Battalion [468 men]
Service History:
5 Lharvion, 963 A.K.: Unit amalgamated from Queen’s Own Dragonriders, 3rd Imperial Foote, and 109th Arcane Foote regiments.
7/963-11/963: Outfitting and training at Kalazart.
12/963-7/966: Attached to Coastal Guard’s Wroann’s Finger Patrol, raiding and defending against incursion from Wroann’s Finger of Scion’s Sound.
8/966-1/7/969: Attached to Coastal Guard’s Brey Estuary Patrol, raiding and defending against incursion from the River Brey and its estuary.
--4/13/967-6/3/967: Participant unit in the Battle of Tavor’s Crossing, in which attempted Thrane crossings in force were repelled.
--2/18/968-4/14/968: Primary combatant unit in Operation Midnight Thunder, which resulted in Arythawn Keep being vertically enveloped and occupied for eight weeks before its being vacated due to failures in other sectors of operation making its holding untenable.
1/969-8/969: Attached to XVIII Corps of Fifth Army, operating against Vathirond.
--3/17/969-6/4/969: Participant unit in Operation Blinkered Pollywog, aimed at breaching Vathirond’s fortification belts.
--6/15/969-8/21/969: Participant unit in Operation Persnickety Pumpernickel, aimed at capturing Vathirond.
9/969-4/970: Attached to III Reserve Corps of the Army of the Lheshlands, operating against Lhesh Haruuc’s insurgency.
--9/5/969-10/15/969: Participant unit in the Battle of Whitehearth, aimed at relieving the besieged industrial works in and around the Cannith hold.
--10/969-12/969: Participant unit in the Battle of the Lyrenton Road, as the Army of the Lheshlands pursued the routed goblinoids from the Battle of Whitehearth to the gates of Gellena(modern-day Rhukaan Draal).
--12/17/969-1/9/970: Participant unit in the First Battle of Gellena(known in the modern literature as both the Battle of Rhukaan Draal and Battle of Haruuc’s Gambit, which encompasses both the First and Second Battles of Gellena); River Ghaal presents impassable obstacle to largely irregular Army of the Lheshlands and prevents investing Gallena, with repeated frontal assault exhausting offensive impetus.
--1/10/970-1/20/970: Participant unit in the Second Battle of Gellena, as the rearguard combatant for the Cyran retreat following the rolling up of the Cyran position when goblinoid forces crossed to the east bank of the River Ghaal in force above the Army of the Lheshlands.
--1/23/970-1/26/970: Participant unit in the Battle of Teyrin’s Junction(known in the hobgoblin literature as the Battle of the Gathering Stone), in which the position of the Army of the Lheshlands collapses and disintegrates in ensuing rout.
--1/30/970-3/3/970: Participant unit in the March of Tears, serving as a primary combatant, rallying point for the disorganized remnants of the Army of the Lheshlands, and protector of refugees from the Ghaal River valley in a fighting retreat from Teyrin’s Junction to Lyrenton.
--3/4/970-4/26/970: Participant unit in the Battle of Lyrenton, as primary combatant unit in the siege of the city and the eventual siege-breaking counterattack; counterattack disengaged upon signing of the Treaty of Zolanburg and the ratification of the Cyre-Darguun Security Framework.
5/970-5/972: Retraining and reequipping at Kennerick and Kalazart.
6/972-9/974: Attached to the Imperial Guard of the Army Royale, safeguarding Metrol.
10/974-6/977: Attached to VIII Reserve Corps out of Tronish, enforcing the anti-raiding provisions of the Treaty of Making and that the border integrity provisions of the Cyre-Valenar Security Framework are respected.
7/977-10/981: Attached to XXXII Corps of Tenth Army, interdicting Karrnathi commerce on the River Cyre and roads between Loran Rath and Karrlakton while safeguarding Cyran commerce on the same waterway and waterside roads from Swoz to Eston.
11/981-6/982: Retraining and reequipping at Kennerick.
6/982-3/984: Reconstituted as the Imperial Expeditionary Corps and amalgamated with elements of VIII Reserve Corps, deployed into Valenar to combat raiding war clans based off the south shore of Lake Cyre and the fortifications of the Valenar interior.
--6/982-12/982: Participant unit in the War on the Lakefront, upfronting and dispersing pirates and bandits praying on the commerce of Lake Cyre and its nearby trade roads, as well as the Valenar war clan that was protecting them.
--2/983-4/983: Participant unit in the siege of the fortress Griffonclaw, successfully investing, reducing, and occupying it.
--5/983-8/983: Participant unit in the siege of the fortress at Taer Valior, successfully investing, reducing, and occupying it.
--8/22/983-8/30/983: Participant unit in the Battle of the Western Dunes, in which a mustering of northern Valenar war clans attempted to check the southward march of the Imperial Expeditionary Corps and were decisively defeated and scattered.
--9/983-1/984: Participant unit in the siege of the fortress at Stonefeather Spire, successfully investing, reducing, and occupying it.
--1/984-3/984: Participant unit in the siege of the fortress at Taer Zanathar, doing extensive damage to it during its reduction; siege ordered terminated and Imperial Expeditionary Corps wound down following proper assurances that the Treaty of Making would be more vigorously enforced and a guarantee that the port facilities at Taer Zanathar would be destroyed and abandoned.
4/984-6/984: Reequipping and retraining at Gatherhold.
7/984-5/986: Attached to IX Corps of Third Army, as part of the “cutting edge” of Gen. Alvos Brillik’s attempt to secure the lightning rail on the east bank of the River Cyre as far north as the River Cyre’s estuary.
--3/18/986-4/1/986: Primary unit involved in the storming the bastion of Fort Zombie via vertical envelopment, with approximately two weeks of heavy fighting ensuing as the top of the fortress was secured and successive waves of counterattacks from its massive reserves stored in its necromantic vaults were repulsed.
6/986-4/987: Reequipping and retraining at Gatherhold.
4/987-9/987: Attached to XIV Corps, investing and besieging Fort Bones.
11/987-9/991: Bolstered by units borrowed from XIV Corps and once more rechristened the Imperial Expeditionary Corps, marches deep into the Talenta Plains and then into Karrnath to invest Fort Deepdark. Achieving both operational and strategic surprise, the fortress is captured, and the linkage between Vulyar and Krona’s Peak is essentially severed due to constant raiding of the road and rail links that run before Fort Deepdark. Fortress eventually abandoned due to increasingly wayward talenta’ar screening elements and the appearance in force of Karrnathi reinforcements.
12/991-7/992: Reequipping and retraining in Gatherhold.
8/992-2/994: Attached to IX Corps of Third Army, marching to capture Vulyar as part of a new offensive aimed at once more cutting Karrnath in two.
--8/7/992-9/19/992: Participant unit in the Battle of Beyaren, in which a meeting engagement in the vicinity of a halfling encampment of the same name between the Storm Cavaliers and the 21st Risen Grenadiers sparked the largest engagement of the Last War, with the lead elements of a Cyran and a Karrnathi general offensive colliding, resulting in a Karrnathi checking.
--9/25/992-11/9/992: Participant unit in the Battle of Tenagaat, in which a renewed Karrnathi offensive is once more checked and its offensive impetus exhausted; pursuit is attempted but stalls as Karrn units disengage.
--1/14/993-2/26/993: Participant unit in the Rebirth’s Eve Offensive, in which the offensive is once more resumed towards Vulyar.
--3/16/993-7/6/993: Participant unit in the Battle of Vyaxa, in which the primary defensive belt on the road to Vulyar was confronted and overcome at staggering loss.
--7/14/993-9/14/993: Reequipping and rearming in Metrol.
--10/2/993-12/19/993: Participant unit in the ir’Sollan Offensive, in which the Karrns were driven to the gates of Vulyar before the offensive had to be concluded due to the onset of winter.
--2/1/994-2/20/994: Participant unit in the so-called Mourning Offensive, in which vertical envelopment actions against Vulyar were inaugurated and the city subsequently stormed and occupied before being terminated due to the occurrence of the Mourning.
Post-War History:
Following the Mourning, the Storm Cavaliers abandoned Vulyar in the face of a Karrnathi counterattack and, following the orders of the surviving chain of command in the east, withdrew southwards, deep into the Talenta Plains, eventually concentrating at Gatherhold. In the ensuing months after pitching camp in Gatherhold, much of the Storm Cavaliers’ organization vanished into the dead of the night: Between casualties from the Vulyar campaign and the crisis imposed by the Mourning, only 40% of the paper strength of the 15th Arcane Guards remained by the end of 994, with some formations dropping as low as 25%. With Alvos Brillik’s creation of a military government-in-exile and the consolidation of Cyre’s remaining military force in the east under it, erosion of the strength of the Storm Cavaliers was ended and some replacements found: By the end of 995, it was up to 50% of its paper-strength, and by the time of the Thronehold Accords that figure was up to 65%. With the ratification of the Thronehold Accords and pursuant to its plans to rationalize the cost base of the Cyran military, the Brillik administration opted to wind down and demobilize the 15th Arcane Guards in 997.
The following details the fate of the individual formations of the 15th Arcane Guards:
Queen’s Own Dragonriders: Following dissolution, Prince Oargev succeeded in raising sufficient revenue to recruit a goodly number of those who had remained with the unit after the Mourning and reconstitute it: That said, it was they and their exotic mounts which had suffered the most attrition through the Vulyar campaign and the long years after the Mourning, leaving the reconstituted Prince’s Own Dragonrider Regiment consisting only a full-strength 1st Cuirassier Guards and half-strength 3rd Cuirassier Guards. These account for, at best, half the strength of the Queen’s Own Dragonriders when the Thronehold Accords were signed: The remnant have seemed to disappear into the ether, though they – and their mounts – have a nasty habit of turning up in the service of House Deneith or plying the skyways in the service of sky pirates.
3rd Imperial Foote Guards: As one of the iconic units of Galifar, which had served for five centuries prior to the outbreak of the Last War, their demise in the post-war reorganization of the Cyran remnant’s military was one of the great travesties of the post-war world. It was a sufficient travesty that the Deneith Thronewardens, seeking to bolster their ranks to properly undertake the role delegated to them by the Thronehold Accords, bought the regiment, wholesale, from the Brillik junta, including not just the recruitment of every extant soldier in it, but its regimental colors, history, and everything else that had managed to survive the Mourning. (To this day, some wonder whether it was House Deneith making the offer to the Brillik junta which prompted the wind down in the first place.) Today the remnants of the 3rd Imperial Foote (Guards) Regiment serve in the service of the Deneith Thronewardens and are located in the barracks of their Thronehold compound.
109th Arcane Foote: As the junior formation in a division composed of two of the most storied Cyran units in history, the fate of the 109th Arcane Foote was modest compared to those of its comrades: It was quietly wound down and mustered out, pursuant to the plans of the Brillik junta, and with little fanfare from either the Cyran remnant or outsiders who were paying attention. Following dissolution, the 109th Arcane Foote’s remnants were approached by Prince Oargev, but many fewer were willing to return to the barracks life in New Cyre. Still, Oargev managed to raise a new battalion for the nucleus of his own military base in New Cyre, with New Cyre’s 2nd Foote Guards battalion coming into existence and continuing to bear the colors of the 109th Arcane Foote. |
| #3OgiwanMar 21, 2011 8:51:47 | Hehehehe. Well done. I'm far too lazy to make TO&Es, though.
My idea for the Storm Cavaliers was, unsurprisingly, different. My logis is that since Cyrean armies were mostly mercenaries, if there were volunteer units, they would probably equip themselves and try to be really flashy. So, the Storm Cavaliers would be a unit that any nobleman (or maybe just rich person) could join. They would be heavy cavalry, but their gimmick is that the horse's shoes would have some sort of enchantment that sparks and magnifies the sound of the horse's hooves; the effect would be that a charge would sound like peals of thunder, and the horses would look like they were running on lightning.
Hmm. I had a post on this topic about a year ago. The amount of passive voice makes me wince, though:
Karrnathi Risen Grenadiers/Karrnathi Risen Foot Guard (formerly 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th Royal Risen Patriots, formerly 6th, 7th, 19th, 20th, 27th, 31st, 42nd, 59th, 66th, 104th, and 112th Risen Patriots)
The Risen Grenadiers are an elite regiment of Karrnathi skeletons, and the Risen Foot Guard an elite regiment of Karrnathi zombies. Karrnathi undead possess the capability to learn, which means that veteran Karrnathi undead are formidable foes indeed. After a particularly vicious battle that featured six Risen Patriots units being shattered, the Karrnathi undead, extremely skilled after the pitched battle, were consolidated into several Royal Risen Patriots regiments.
The Royal Risen Patriots regiments were normal Risen Patriots regiments that had been augmented by the Karrnathi undead from the shattered Risen Patriot regiments. The performance of the Karrnathi component was superb, but the mundane undead components were no better than normal. Planners, though, suggested simply fielding just the Karrnathi undead, and allocating the mundane undead to other units. With the near-destruction of several other regiments, though, there were enough veteran Karrnathi undead soldiers to fill a pair of regiments.
The planners decided to compose one regiment each of "pure" skeletons and zombies, instead of mixing them as doctrine espoused. The logic was that the unit would fight in the main effort, and would thus have support from the other units committed to the main attack. Keeping the units "pure" would also maximize standardization and combat efficiency. The result was the Risen Grenadiers and Risen Foot Guards.
The Risen Grenadiers are Karrnathi skeletons equipped as heavy infantry; instead of paired scimitars, the Risen Grenadiers wield large shields, heavy armor, swords, and alchemical items. On the attack, the Risen Grenadiers would advance to throwing distance and lob a cloud of alchemical ordinance before charging in. On the defense, a volley of alchemical ordinance would break the momentum of the enemy's charge, allowing the elite skeletons to crush the attack and counterattack.
The Risen Foot Guards are Karrnathi zombies equipped also as heavy infantry. Instead of the sword and shield commonly used, though, the Risen Foot Guard has heavy plate armor and a very long pike, with a sword for close work. Thanks to the extreme discipline and training of the Risen Foot Guard, they can charge with pikes leveled, a feat few of the most elite human soldiers can maintain. On the defense, the Risen Foot Guard is virtually unmovable, as the bristling wall of pike can stop virtually any charge. |