The battle for Komephoros, 3137-3138

Komephoros, like many of the worlds of the former Prefecture IX, was in a precarious situation by early 3137. Abandoned by the Republic, it was dangerously close to the Falcon Desant, leaving its leaders worried that their world might be the next to face the Falcon’s talons. The result was that it became one of the worlds within the former prefecture that joined the mutual defense coalition headed by Jasek Kelswa-Steiner’s Stomhammers.

However, matters changed for the worse in mid-3137 as the Wolf Clan began their invasion of the former Republic. While Komephoros was outside the thrust of their initial invasion, the world’s leaders suddenly became rather worried by their new situation. With the Wolves on one side and the Falcons on the other, they felt that an invasion of their world by either clan was inevitable. Or, even worse, that it might become a battleground for the two Clans.

With their planetary guard depleted (ironically by defections to the Stormhammers), the Komephoros leadership turned to hiring mercenaries to supplement their forces and provide some degree of protection. The government went on something of a spending spree, hiring up mercenaries as fast as it could, even if many of them were dubious units of questionable quality. Their hope was that they might serve as a discouragement to clan invasion, or at the very least serve to slow down one should it occur.

The history of Magyari's Irregulars

Part V – New Age

The Blackout caught everyone unprepared, and in its aftermath the mercenary Market exploded as chaos set in across the Republic of the Sphere. Like many others, the Irregulars began casting about in the suddenly active market for work, while also trying to recoup their depleted strength with whatever assets they could find and procure.

By early 3133, the Irregulars were active in the Republic, working contracts for whatever faction would hire them. The Swordsworn proved to be an especially lucrative source of work, the Irregulars serving as a quick response unit while also raiding across several prefectures. While the unit scored several successes, it also became clear that Bors was not the best commander. More and more often he would be delegating command decisions to his subordinates while spending his time rubbing shoulders with his employers, and his actual battlefield value proved to be somewhat dubious.

The history of Magyari's Irregulars

Part IV – Busy doing nothing

By the end of the Jihad, the Irregulars were somewhat changed. Absorbing several other commands had given them a more combined-arms structure, while the ravages of the Jihad had taken their toll. Besides battlefield losses, the Irregulars had lost experienced personnel, both to combat and those who chose to stand down after the Jihad. (One of them, Chaver Hohsq, a veteran Longbow pilot, would go on to open a string of pubs across the fledgling Republic). The Grunthos Group had all but ceased to exist with the fall of Outreach, reduced to a small cadre of technicians working directly for the Irregulars.

And yet, Anika persisted. Consolidating and continuing, she slowly rebuilt the unit, growing at a pace they could support rather than simply bounding outwards for the sake of it and outpacing their depleted financial reserves. This measured approach saw them recover enough to field a full BattleMech company by 3085 with expansion of other elements to follow. By 3100, the Irregulars boasted a full combined-arms Batallion with a mixture of BattleMechs, Armour and Battle Armoured infantry forces.

The history of Magyari's Irregulars

Part III – Feud

In late 3067, the Irregulars had cycled back to Campoleone as a part of their downtime following a successful pirate hunting expedition when disaster struck. In November, a terrorist bomb in the capitol killed Captain Jelek Magyari as well as his XO and several representatives of the Commonality military during a planning meeting. Within hours of the explosion, traffic control reported pirate dropships burning their way towards the capitol.

Command of the unit very suddenly and unexpectedly fell to Jelek’s only child, the then 22-year old Anika Magyari who had only just graduated to active duty from training. Nearly overwhelmed by the combination of her father’s death and the situation she had been thrust into, Anika turned to the best source of advice that she had available; her grandmother.

With Sel’s help, Anika was able to rally the irregulars and turn back the pirate force, stopping them outside the planetary capitol before they could do any significant damage. While the Irregulars had suffered losses, given the situation they were far less severe than they could have been with Anika showing a surprising amount of determination and confidence, given the situation. However, their greatest boon came in the form of a captured Pirate Mechwarrior, one who yielded a lot of useful information.

The history of Magyari's Irregulars

Part II – Fortuitous Timing

The low-intensity raiding that characterised the dying years of the Third Succession Wars were a good time for small mercenary units, and the Irregulars were no exception. Stabilising at the company level, the Irregulars saw plenty of work along various borders, engaging in largely small actions of little consequence, but growing in skill and experience along the way, as well as building a reputation.

Sel Magyari herself gained a lot from this period; her previously vain and superficial nature slowly changing as she became more professional and driven, her leadership skills blossoming over time. Her experience as a battlefield commander showed, as well as a growing ability to work with non-combatant and support personnel to help run the unit.

Similarly, Professor Grunthos expanded and developed his skill base, helping to support the unit’s ‘Mechs and supplanting their growing technical support. By 3025 he was also managing a workshop on Galatea, the Grunthos Group, which provided technical support and BattleMech modification to other mercenary units.

The history of Magyari's Irregulars

Part I – Formation and Early Years

(EDITOR’S NOTE: This section is based in the very vague recollections of a Mechwarrior Second Ed. game I played in over a decade ago. Set in the early 31^st century, it was about the misadventures of a small mercenary unit. My character, Sel Magyari, was its commander and also horribly ill-suited for the job… so how it always ends up going.)

Magyari’s Irregulars first came together in 3012 on Galatea, formed by a quartet of then unemployed mercenaries who had all arrived on-world relatively recently. Between them, Sel Magyari (A former bikini model), “Professor” Grunthos (Lecturer in Mechatronics at the university of Helsinki), Mackie Kusanagi (Rumoured to be a former bounty hunter) and George W. Butros III (Some guy) were big on ambitions but lacking in actual experience, making the formation of the unit an ad-hoc affair. Sel somehow wound up becoming the newly-formed unit’s commander for reasons that remain unclear. (EDITOR’S NOTE: Sel was the only one of the PCs that had the Leadership or Tactic’s skills)

The newly-minted Magyari’s Irregulars managed to do well for themselves, finding a niche in the low-level warfare that was so common in the early 31^st century. A combination of skill, planning and more then a little luck saw the unit not only survive but also thrive with the unit managing to avoid severe defeats and losses. Even if they were on only short-term contracts for the most part, the unit still managed to do well for themselves.