What I did was to come up with a unit that is going to be close enough to the front lines that it continues to get hit hard in defensive fights to explain why it didn't take part in major Lyran offensives in the later succession wars. I also needed to give it some connections to power that would keep it being able to be rebuilt but without getting too close to the halls of power. My final choice in this was to make the founding commander and his offspring distant relatives to the Kelswa family in the Tamar Pact which put them in place to deal with constant Kuritan incursions as well as the front lines of the Clan Invasion which provided salvage as well as keeping them fairly high on re-equipt lists to keep them viable.
Hopefully my logic makes sense and if anyone sees any flaws in it, please feel free to comment any suggestions or issues. That being said, here comes the fluff.
Unit Motto: Wall of Steel
The Tamar Heavy Guard was formed just after the Second Succession War by Captain Bernard Kelswa. He was a distant cousin of the ruling branch of the Tamar Pact who was serving in the 5th Lyran Guard Regiment. Unfortunately he didn't have enough political connections, or favors due, to prevent his career from coming to a halt when he overrode a superior officer's commands. That the commands would have led to defeat of the Lyran forces prevented him from being cashiered, but not from ruining his career.
Captain Kelswa was a loyal soldier of the Lyran Commonwealth and refused to let political generals keep him from defending his homeland. He used his family connections to create a battalion sized mercenary command that was then hired by Lyran Commonwealth via Kelswa family ties to assist in the defense of the Tamar Pact. Part of the hiring fee was covered by the Kelswa family itself.
Over the next several decades the Tamar Heavy Guard received plenty of military experience in various battles with the Kuritan forces seeking to invade the Tamar Pact. The unit saw its fortunes wax and wane over the years, building up to a high of a full regiment down to a low of just a single understrength company. They always managed to trade on their distant family connections to rebuild though. Due to this continued cycle of defense and rebuilding, the Tamar Heavy Guard rarely have been deployed in offensive operations.
The unit was then nearly fatally damaged during the Clan Invasion which saw it forced to relocate to Graceland with just three lances of damaged mechs. The Tamar Heavy Guard again traded on the distant family connections of the current commander, Colonel William Kelswa-Cromarty, and managed to rebuild once more to Battalion strength. The unit was then transferred to Morningside to help defend the southern part of what remained of the Tamar March.
The Tamar Heavy Guard managed to sit out the FedCom Civil War as they were part of the defense against raiding Clan forces. While a number of the members of the unit wanted to commit to one side or the other, Colonel Kelswa-Cromarty held them together through force of will and kept the unit a viable command. He acquired permission to undertake several raids into the Jade Falcon territory to keep the unit's edge as well as to occupy them with something other than thoughts of the Civil War.
After the Civil War, the unit's command passed to William's son, Oliver, who had recently returned to the unit after undergoing additional training at the NAIS Academy. Newly promoted Colonel Oliver Kelswa-Cromarty has proved to be a very likeable commander who intimately knows the men and women under his command but still remains aloof enough to maintain the mysterious allure of command.
The command is built around heavy and assault mechs with each Company having a single lance of lights and mediums for scouting purposes. The Tamar Heavy Guard is currently an over strength Battalion with plans to expand to a second Battalion in the coming months.
This unit will be joined by some Warhammers, Hammerhands, Longbows, Archers, and Rifleman that should be arriving in the next few days via eBay purchase of Robotech units. We'll see how it goes from there. That's all for now and I'll see you all next time.
