BattleTech Lore & History - Understanding Regimental Names in the 31st Century (MechWarrior Lore)

0:00 Intro
1:37 Regulars
1:54 Irregulars
2:42 Group/Legion
3:02 Guards
3:29 Cadre
3:49 Militia
4:29 Line or Light
4:48 Grenadiers
5:22 Voltigeurs
5:56 Vélites
6:25 Carabiniers
6:50 Fusiliers
7:26 Infantry
7:51 Chasseurs
8:18 Tirailleurs
8:44 Jägers/Rangers
9:04 Commandos
9:20 à pied or á cheval
9:41 Cavalry/Cavaliers
10:04 Cuirassiers
10:29 Chevaliers
10:57 Dragoons
11:29 Hussars
11:53 Chevau Légers/Light Horse
12:32 Lancers/Uhlans
13:08 Borderers/Highlanders

[mcnaughe]

"The Hussar regiments keep asking us to prioritize LAM development and production. You'll learn to tune them out."

[obamabiden]

id imagine one of the reasons that terms like "dragoons" and "hussars" are usually the elite troops and the wrong weight of mech in the modern inner sphere is a lot of them seem to have that name due to being incredibly old Star League units in many cases, who would understandably end up the best troops a given succesor state had

especially as the star league used a lot of vaguely victorian british unit nomenclature for their regiments, in at least one case because the unit was actually a genuine highland regiment that still existed after thousands of years and presumably dozens of changes in government

honestly the anachronistic mech unit names were one of the big things that got me interested in BattleTech (weird reason, i know) because i saw a mercenary company of futuristic giant robots being named the "eridani light horse" and was just like "yeah if we invented giant robots they would definitely still be named stuff like that"

[SvenVanDerPlank]

A small side project I worked on to distract myself from the struggles I'm having covering the Battle for Terra. The end result is a bit unfocused, ended up talking more about Napoleon than I did BattleTech. Don't want to spend any more time doing revisions however. Hopefully some of you find this vaguely interesting. Let me know if you would like to see more BT videos like this outside the main chronology I'm doing.

There are some godawful French pronunciations in this video. I don't know what possessed me to try since I've never had a single French lesson in my life. Feel free to laugh at me there. If they're REALLY heinous I'll reupload with those cut out.

[discipleofsound]

Good to know FASA and Catalyst didn't just use random words to describe units. Wish we got more information on non-mech units in the setting.

[zapdragon]

I adore this video. it is both a great way of explaining things to new players and explains things that I never knew. The thing about lancers being anti-mech units for example. I always thought it was just a cool name for elite units.

[alyssinwilliams]

I've been playing Battletech for more than 30 years, and it never occurred to me to look up the history behind the regimental names and types. Thank you for this, it was both interesting and highly useful! I had no idea that the designation types all went back to the Napoleonic era, though in hindsight it makes a lot of sense, as there are a lot of parallels between that era and the era of the succession wars.

[ralphsexton]

32 years into being a BattleTech fan, and I can still learn new stuff. Shows how deep and awesome the setting is, and it helps to have a nicely laid-out video like this to put things nicely into perspective. Thank you for your excellent work!

[tenchraven]

Dragoons can also refer "mounted infantry"- troops who rode to but not into the battle, dismounted (with one in ten or so holding horses, or leaving them with the artillery's pickets) then marching into battle to fight dismounted, usually as light infantry. Quick response forces usually, or execute an ambush or spoiling attack, then get ride like hell back to their main force. In the modern, infantry with IFVs and APCs. Although all of this comes down your military and it's doctrine and applying any of this in a blanket statement is as idiotic as Napoleonic squares against modern artillery and airpower.

[Bolththrower]

THIS, is the type of content CGL should advertise and perhaps even commission you to make for them to be displayed on their YouTube channel instead of a badly narrated (the dude souded bored the whole time) fluff videos on a certain units history.

[DapperRaccoon]

Great breakdown! I'd love to see one on BT units that in fiction trace their lineage to real-world military units.

[arcangellord]

I find this video very helpful for my lore based regiments, thank you sven

[das_gruuben]

Ah Last, but certainly not least, the Highlanders.

*Bagpipes intensify*

[pyrelight]

I listened to this, then thought back to the ACW, then hit Sarna looking for Zouaves. I'm not sure all these names are really descriptive vs. rule of cool, especially when you're trying to sell your merc company to prospective clients. Here's some names I don't think you covered. Zouave. Janissary. Mamluk. Provisional. Light Horse. Cossack. Yeomanry. Sharpshooters. Independent. Sapper. Companion. Fyrd. Bannerman.

Have you considered doing a brief unit size video? How big is a III etc?

[lucassmith]

Thanks for making this! I have always been a fan of the Battle Force boxed sets, as well as “inner sphere at war” rule set found in the ‘Interstellar operations’ book. Your videos motivated me to to start getting a battalion or regiment sized tabletop game underway! Im nearly done and will be looking for players soon.

[davidmcglynn]

Beautiful. Really succinct explanation of something I spent ages trying to search for online, and only half understood. Really, really helpful for world generation for the fiction nerd in me as well as naming my mercenary units.

I'd love to see the other side of this, the smaller scale formation names - assault, battle, fire, striker, cavalry etc.

[stephenrickman]

Hi Sven, I find your videos very informative and detailed. Long time Battletech fan and player. Last time I was this early I was playing the game tabletop and with paper tokens. Keep up the great work.

[yourseatatthetable]

Dragoon's; Hussars; and Fusiliers, oh my! (Sorry, couldn't help it)

[franksmedley]

Hello Sven.
A well presented, and informative video. One that should help many players decide just who and what their Mech units are and how they are used. Personally, I would point out this video to new players to inform them of the historical and practical uses of various names in Battletech.
For myself, this video, in no way invalidates my choices for my Mercenary group (s).
Originally, my unit was named the Star Lions Mercenary Unit. After it had grown to more than three regiments in size, and more, it was renamed the Star Lions Corps (Being a Marine, I felt this was appropriate).
After retiring, the unit to the closer edge of the Deep Periphery, and establishing their own Colony, the old Star Lions changed. Most of the Mechs were now 'outmoded', 'inferior' in firepower, or just plain lying in scrap heaps due to most of their equipment being salvaged for other uses during the colony building phases.
When a new Unit was constructed, it was designated the Ghost Lions Legion.
The name Ghost Lions paying homage to the original Star Lions, and a Legion, since all the various colonies on various moons would contribute to the building of the force that would return to the Inner Sphere as Mercenaries, as well as be the primary defensive forces for the Stygia System.
Over time, the Legions would number in excess of four Regimental Combat Teams in size, along with a further 'Legion' comprised of newly trained warriors and their machines. In addition, each moon-colony of the Stygia system has its own defenders. But rather than designate them as totally different units, the Stygian System Government created the Xth, or 10th, Legion. A 'Legion' that is vastly larger than a RCT in total size, but broken up into Lunar Guardian units for each of the colonized moons of the solar system.
The 10th Legion also enfolds the protective forces of other installations in the Stygian System, such as those that protect the various resource extraction sites on the larger planetoids and asteroids, and things like the hollowed out asteroid used as a repair and graving yard for Jump Ships, known as 'Casper Station' (Casper, being a friendly ghost, from an ancient children's cartoon).
It should be noted that the Casper Station is different from the Caspar Base, which is the primary testing grounds for new Mech designs for the various Legions. Caspar Base is actually named in honor of the Founder's bodyguard, Caspar Detwiller. Two of the training sites are named for historical figures. Von Stuben's Anvil (American Revolutionary War army trainer) General von Steuben. The other site is named for General Casmir Pulaski (American Revolutionary War) Calvary General.
The Ghost Lions Legions use a 6-Mech 'Lance' size for most 'formations'. A Company numbers 18 Mechs, a Battalion being comprised of 4 Companies, and a Regiment consisting of 4 Battalions. A 'Legion', for the most part, is (with exceptions noted above) usually allocated up to 6 Regiments, although rarely seen or deployed as more than 2 or 3 Regiments.
And before anyone screams: 'That's just plain nuts!'... Please remember that the original colony site was founded by the Star Lions Corps (Mechwarriors, Infantry, Vehicles, and Aerospace assets, along with their dependents, as well as over 400, 000 civilians recruited from various worlds before settling the Stygia System). Add just under 150 years of expansion of the colonies, and no population limits, and you get a total System Population of around 150 Million people (Including various recruited personnel and their families, as well as the families of various 'free trader' jump ships that have joined the Stygian System). More than enough to build and support such 'large' units that spend most of their time deployed on various Mercenary Contracts, both in and out of the Inner Sphere.

[graywolf]

Thank you so much for posting this! I've always been curious as to what the various terms meant. It's also nice to know that the mercenary unit I created over twenty years ago (Before the dark times, before the Microsoft buyout.) was actually accurately named. (Lambert's Lancers)

[kajros]

Just yesterday curiosity finally got me and I looked up what a dragoon is, great timing! As someone who is just watching lore videos about Battletech, I really like how your videos help me learn more