63rd "Hellcats" Heavy Gear Regiment (Aeromobile)

Regimental Motto:

Prima untus, ultima foras  

"First in, last out"

The 63rd "Hellcats" Heavy Gear Regiment (Aeromobile) has a long and proud history. Originally this unit

was an aeromobile infantry regiment and rose to fame during the Battle of Pioneer. During this battle it was the soldiers of the 63rd Regiment who first entered the city, but also subsequently covered the retreat when the UMF deployed the first generation of Gear.

The 63rd Regiment was one of the first to transform from an infantry regiment to an HG regiment. Although the unit is composed of members of perhaps every clan in the Protectorate, thanks to capable leadership it is a very capable unit as proved during the defence of Bako Basin

Captain Holst Lionel

The base for combat operations is the WFPS Retribution, an old but steadfast landship that has served the northern armies for generations. Like the ship, Captain Unsinkable Holst Lionel has served in dozens of combat operations, including fighting the CEF in the Badlands.

During the final days of the first invasion, Retribution remained cut off from the rest of the Terra Novan forces and for five long days had to fight off ground attacks, only through guerrilla warfare were the northern forces able to repel the attack and even attack and destroy the mobile command center. Holst was even reported to have said before this attack "who said anything about hiding? Let's raise the black flag and start cutting throats."

Captain De Vries

Task Force Talon is one of the 63rd Regiment's tactical units that operates from WFPS Retribution. Its commander is Captain De Vries Joseph, an experienced commander from the battles against the CEF, but also served during the Interpolar War. De Vries usually commands from the WFPS Retribution command bridge. But if his presence is needed on the battlefield, he sits in the cockpit of a Kodiak nicknamed Mairo. In these cases, he commands a fire support battle group which usually consists of one or two grizzlies and a few lighter gears such as Hunter or Cheetah usually in airborne variants

Ranger Hill Penelopé

Part of Task Force Talon is an assault squad which is unusually for the WFP armed with Jaguars. This team is led by Hill Penelopé, whose twin sister Phoebe also serves in this squad. They both drive Fire Jaguars. Penelope was promoted a year ago during anti-rover operations in the badlands. During a routine patrol, the commander of their battlegroup was killed, and Penelope managed to lead the unit out of an enemy ambush. She also showed her qualities during the siege of Bako Basin when she led a counter-strike against SRA troops who had to retreat into the wastelands.

Lt. Maven Ava

Northern Command referred to the defense of Bako Basin and adjacent areas as Operation Claymore.
Thanks to the early detection of AST units, the command was able to send Retribution, sometimes referred to by the troops as Ret. Fort Henry is only a few hundred kilometers from the Badlands so the WFP was able to get a landship into the area very quickly

A special intelligence task force under the Northern Guard was attached to Retribution for this operation. This group is led by Lieutenant Maven Ava, and her unit is armed with several lighter Gears and Jaguars. The unit's purpose is not to confront the enemy directly, but to gather information on the southern campaign and what its objectives are.

Battle of Bako Basin

Task Force Talon managed to take positions on the outskirts of Bako Basin at the last minute. Within moments, the SRA vanguard attacked. The northern units managed to hold their positions. After the initial firefights, both sides tried to consolidate their forces. Ranger Hill took advantage of this, using her fast Jaguars to make a flanking move, catching the Southern forces off guard. During this attack, the SRA vanguard suffered significant casualties which forced them to retreat.

The situation around the Bako Basin remains uncertain. Southern forces are stationary in the area and the Retribution crew has no idea how large a force they are facing.  Lieutenant Ava may have sent her men into the field, but the storm the Swamp Vipers used to hide the movement of their troops is now raging over the city, making any communication impossible.  

It's not the first time the Hellcats have faced the Swamp Vipers in recent memory. Holst was very familiar with and had faced previous Swamp Vipers commander Major Reyna on several occasions. But he was a real kitten compared to the new 45th SRA Regiment commander Alba Floro. Captain De Vries had already had the honor of meeting Captain Floro on the battlefield. He knows how she thinks, what her strengths are, but also that her pride is her greatest weakness and one that Task Force Talon must exploit if they hope to win.

Outside the lore

The story around the Northern Army parts are pretty funny because I more or less wanted to play the SRA which I consider more like the bad guys (Although we all know the biggest bad guys live in Peace River) and the WFP was more like the OPFOR became the army I play with most often and kind of grew on me.

I started playing around with the army a bit and made some conversions for Para Hunters and Para Cheetahs, but let's not kid ourselves the main reason was watching the Obsolete series from Youtube Originals. And dropping a mecha out of a plane just sounds cool.

Although the plastic sets are not as nice as the metal ones on the table, they look good especially in fullpaint. What I like about Heavy Gear Blitz! (I had a similar experience with V2 Flames of War) is that every battle tells a story. If you build a nice table, and have armies in fullpaint the story pretty much tells itself.