Mech Every Day Force Saturday #6: Tenth Lyran Guards Command Lance

 

The Lyran Commonwealth, also known as House Steiner, was one of the last Great Houses to form. Its three constituent proto-states were all heavily focused on interstellar trade. The Commonwealth has thus always been a rich nation, but this hasn't translated to battlefield excellence. Steiner's armies are, on average, the heaviest of all the Successor States, but this mainly makes them cumbersome and slow - though if a foe does find themselves out-maneuvered, their destruction at the guns of so many heavy and assault 'Mechs is all but assured. It should noted that Lyran "Social Generals" - entitled rich jerks who purchase their ranks - are well-known at being experts of snatching defeat from the jaws of victory.

The Lyran Guards regiments are among the realm's backbone units, alongside the Lyran Regulars. In 3049, several of these regiments were stationed along the border of the Free Rasalhague Republic in a show of détente which the Draconis Combine mirrored. The storied 10th Lyran Guards, however, were positioned near the actual border with the Combine. As the Inner Sphere reacted to Operation REVIVAL, the 10th Lyran were rushed coreward to meet the invaders.

This is the point of time represented by this lance. Kai Allard-Liao, perhaps the greatest MechWarrior of all time, is piloting his father's custom Centurion, named Yen-lo-Wang after the king of Hell. It's been heavily upgraded with recovered technology, including a powerful gauss rifle and pule lasers. Joining him are two survivors of the disaster on Trell I: Galen Cox in his Crusader and Victor Steiner-Davion (heir to the Federated Commonwealth) in a Victor. The Goliath actually represents a minor character named Warren Hestrus of the 26th Lyran Guards, but given that the paint scheme is identical and nothing says he wasn't present on Twycross, I included it to fill out the lance.

The result is a credible Command Lance, which is fitting given Victor's rank of Hauptmann (roughly equivalent to a modern Army Captain). Cox, Hestrus, and Steiner-Davion are all above-average pilots, but even in his youthful inexperience Kai Allard-Liao is a natural MechWarrior. Against any Inner Sphere foe, these four and their complementary 'Mechs would be a nightmare at any range. Unfortunately, they faced Clan Jade Falcon and Twycross was another loss, though Victor, Kai, and Galen all survived. (In fact, Victor lived for nearly a full century longer!) Maybe the Goliath soldiered on as well.

The blue and white scheme of the Lyran Guards is stunning on the tabletop, a bold combination that is easy to identify without requiring a lot of fiddly detail or careful brushwork. White is a difficult color for me, which is why it's not well-defined on these units. I plan on returning later to give them proper shadows and highlights, but I wanted to get this signature Lyran unit out to wrap up our first look at each of the Successor States.

I do hope you'll join me tomorrow as I talk about how I thought this week was going to be an actual disaster!