Aeldrum Dragoons

Official seal of the Dragoons

The **Aeldrum Dragoons** are the elite forces of the Serene Duchy of Aeldrum - though they in fact answer to the Serene Doge in his capacity as the ruler of the Aeldrum Spire.

## Forces

The total force of the Dragoons presently consists of seven divisions, each with a regulation strength of 15,000. Each division consists of 15 "Comprehensive Battalions" (800 men) for general combat roles, 3 "Shock Battalions" (500 men) for elite combat operations, 2 Sky Battalions (500 men) and (nominally) 1 "Unusual Operations Battalion" (500 men) for guerrilla and intelligence operations.

The Dragoons of the late 3rd century after Unification were organized into Comprehensive Battalions of 780 men:

* 500 Mounted Infantry
	+ 350 Double-Barreled Schulz Rifles
	+ 50 Hydrogen Revolvers
	+ 100 Coil Guns
* 10 Horse-Drawn Artillery Pieces (6 lbs), 70 crew
* 20 Horse-Drawn Heavy Machine Guns, 50 crew
* 120 Vehicle Mounted Infantry, Double-Barreled Schulz Rifles
	+ 15 Half-Tracks with mounted heavy machine guns
* 5 Steam Artillery, 40 crew

The post Fialta-Shantine War need for greater flexibility in deployments and the notable deficiencies of units organized in the old style during Irish War of Independence has resulted in the Dragoons reorganizing and splitting their divisions into smaller "Combat Brigades" at first on an ad-hoc basis and then in a more regular fashion. These tend to take one of three forms:

### Aetherborne

Aetherborne brigades were the first kind of brigade to be created, and were tasked specifically with the rapid entry and exit operations required during interventions into the Fialta-Shantine war. These units were the only real success story to come out of the Irish disaster, and as such have been consolidated into their own formations. Aetherborne soldiers have become the force of choice "when no other could do."

* 2-4 *Aetherborne* Battalions
* 1 *Combat/Boarding Engineers* Battalion
* 1 Attached Parliamentary Navy Squadron, with naval fire coordinators within each battalion

### Mechanized:

Mechanized brigades are the core replacement for the old "Comprehensive Battalion" structure, updating the forces to be fully mounted on armored vehicles and adding several battalions with tanks and other fighting vehicles for greater mobile firepower

* 2-4 *Mechanized* Battalions on Half-tracks
* 1 *Airmobile* Battalion on Helicopters
* 1-2 *Steam Tank* Battalions
* 1 *Self-Propelled* *Artillery* Battalion

### Airmobile:

Airmobile battalions are the newest and most experimental form of Dragoons unit, more lightly equipped than than Mechanized units and not dependent on Naval support, unlike the Aetherborne. They able to be moved around the battlefield much faster than other formations. Created after a thorough review of the tactics encountered during the worst disasters on Ireland, the Airmobiles are an attempt to mimic the incredible mobility achieved by the Irish Republican Army during the late phase of the war - a tribute to the bitterness felt by the Dragoons at being beaten at their own game.

* 2-3 *Airmobile* Battalions on Helicopters
* 1 *Combat/Airfield Engineers* Battalion
* 1 *Strike Helicopter* Wing
* 1 Attached Dragoons Air Service Wing, with munitions coordinators within each battalion

## Recruitment and Service

The Aeldrum Dragoons are recruited from the orphans, urchins and bastards of the spires, selected in very early adolescence and raised in a martial tradition of total loyalty to the Aeldrum Spire. Their officers are drawn from the high elf caste, and miniature dynasties often emerge within the dragoons as centuries-old commanders populate the officer ranks with their true-born sons and place their bastards in NCO positions.

Unlike other military institutions of the Serene Duchy, the Dragoons do not issue officer commissions to recruits or accept officers from outside their own: while only elves may become commissioned officers, they must serve at least fifteen years overall in the Dragoons and least seven years as sergeants.

Service in the Aeldrum Dragoons is a lifetime contract: the only honorable discharge is death, crippling injury or chronic infirmity. Restrictions on private property and marriage are also enforced: a dragoon must serve twenty years after the end of his training and induction into a battalion before he may own land, claim an inheritance, marry or recognize any illegitimate children. Becoming a commissioned officer adds a further twenty years to this restriction.

With enhancements in prosthetics, even maiming that would once have ended a service obligation can be overcome: while the charter of the Dragoons has not been amended to take into account this development, there is enormous cultural pressure for maimed dragoons to "take their iron" and return to the service with mechanical limbs. Those who do so are in turn celebrated as exemplary of the *esprit de corps* of the organization.

## Political Role

The Aeldrum Dragoons swear loyalty not to the Serene Duchy of Aeldrum or to Parliament but to the Aeldrum Spire and its Doge (who is of course also the Serene Doge). Loyalty to the office of the Doge, lifetime service and their prohibition on outside officers makes the leadership of the Dragoons unusually independent of the noble houses of Aeldrum; the general staff of the Dragoons jealously guard this reputation, knowing that their unusual level of internal autonomy depends on being credibly independent.

## History

The Dragoons began as a mounted patrol force around the hinterlands of the Aeldrum Spire, but they evolved into their current role beginning in the second century After Unification when they were often deployed as relief forces for threatened or embattled colonies. This lead to their transformation from patrol units to rapid deployment shock troops, a change which was completed during the Aeldman intervention in the Second Irish Civil War, when the Dragoons were pressed into combat against a modern foe. They quickly adopted the emplacement weapons of the day (hoop guns, artillery) and began a somewhat slower incorporation of automatic weapons into their small-unit tactics (first with the unwieldy man-portable frame guns of the pre-Schulz period). As their fearsome reputation grew and they became a diplomatic tool of intimidation, the Dragoons also adopted armored vehicles and grew their artillery.

The Dragoons are predominantly a tool of foreign policy, but they have on exceedingly rare occasions between deployed domestically. Perhaps the most shocking use of the Dragoons was the "Raking of Galthad," in which the Aeldrum Dragoons infamously brought the Galthad spire to heel under direct orders from the Serene Doge, securing "confessions" of support for the rebels from Galthadi dissidents at gunpoint. Though the Aeldrum Parliament overturned most of these forced confessions and subsequently brought several Dragoon officers up on charges amounting to war crimes under Aeldman law, only junior Dragoon officers were ever convicted. Some Dragoons who participated remain in the corps to this day.

## Dragoons Special Units

### Unusual Operations

*For more information, see Dragoons Unusual Operations Command*

The Unusual Operations battalions provide the Dragoons with much needed operational and tactical flexibility. Drawn from veterans of the Dragoons put through rigorous training, the "operators" exist independent of other Dragoons formations. Usually, they are deployed in small groups, taking on missions as needed based on the larger demands of the planetary army. Operators may on a daily basis move between carrying out precise strike missions, scouting and gathering intelligence, and training local units - usually of the ATC - in the tactics of insurgency or counterinsurgency. Nominally, one "Unusual Operations" battalion exists within each Dragoons formation, but in practice, the strength of these battalions have been siphoned away from their parent formations for the increasingly diverse tasks required throughout the cosmos.

### Aetherborne

The Aetherbornes have become widely known as the most grisly and terrifying units of the Dragoons. Clad always in their towering steel boarding armor, the Aetherborne Dragoons operate as marines and drop-troops, coordinating closely with designated squadrons of the Parliamentary Navy. The idea for the formation was born out of the experience of Dragoons units deployed to battle Nipponese pirates. The Navy's marine corps was and continues to be focused on boarding and counter-boarding operations, which left them with limited doctrinal options when forced to quickly switch between shipboard combat and combat within the more expansive and rugged terrain of the asteroids and planetoids commonly used to house pirate bases. At first using captured enemy escape pods, and then purpose built drop capsules and maneuver jet-packs, the Dragoons would quickly deploy to the surface of enemy bases and overwhelm the defenses with massive firepower. Dragoons high command quickly recognized the usefulness of this capability in terrestrial settings, and began training the existing Shock and Sky battalions for this role. Now, entire formations of Dragoons have become designated Aetherborne and trained as such.

As a result of the intense fighting that they are put through, particularly in the gruesome battles of the Fialta-Shantine War, these soldiers have become hardened beyond even the ordinary cruelty of the Dragoons. Taking delight in the art of butchery, Aetherbornes are known to massacre entire populations of civilians in their area of operations in increasingly bizzare and disconcerting ways to satisfy their appetite for death. Humiliation from their defeat in the Irish War of Independence has only increased their regimental ethos of fury, with new recruits becoming ever more instilled with the bitter hatred, racial disdain, and lust for blood of the veteran soldiers.

### Airmobile

New options for air power resulting from the proven capabilities of gyro- and heli-copters are being integrated into the Dragoons as quickly as they can adopt them. Helicopters were one of the decisive technologies of the Irish War of Independence, and the lack of doctrine for their use was identified in the postwar analysis as a serious weakness which the Dragoons needed to remedy as soon as possible. The result of the doctrinal overhaul is a relatively lightly armed but very mobile strike force supported by gyrocopter weapons platforms and close Air support as a substitution for artillery.

### Dragoons Air Service

As command of the air has become an increasingly important element of the battle space, the Dragoons adapted by commissioning their own air corps. Not trusting the ATC to be able to provide adequate support, Dragoons high command petitioned Parliament directly and insisted on their own recruitment and procurement. Air service wings exist outside the command structure of the Dragoons Divisions and Brigades, but have in practice become integrated into the Divisional structure, with Air Service wings directly attached to the new Airmobile brigades. The close air support doctrine of the DAS has been key to recent Dragoons successes.

## Tactics

The philosophy of the Dragoons rests on overwhelming firepower and rapid deployment. Their equipment and unit composition is designed to match considerably larger forces, using the size and relative sluggishness of infantry against them and (generally) outgunning cavalry. In many cases, this can mean out-riding supply lines and gambling on a quick rout from the enemy.

Despite their emphasis on modern weapons, the Dragoons do not fare nearly as well in urban combat as they do in the open field; getting bogged down in street fighting gives the enemy time to maneuver and leaves the dragoons reliant on their field artillery and automatic weapons for area control against numerically superior forces, a strategy which soon runs into serious issues regarding ammunition supply. In scenarios where the Dragoons have performed exceedingly well in urban combat, they have done so because of relative numerical parity or well-protected supply lines. Despite their poor performance on the urban offensive, the Dragoons have proven savvy defenders within the spires, applying their training in mobile firepower to create areas of devastating defensive fire while rarely allowing themselves to be pinned or enveloped.