Seeing the sad state of Capellan affairs after the Fourth Succession War, Lady Romano Liao assumed unofficial control of the Confederation. Quickly assessing the damage to the Confederation, she began just as quickly to reconstruct it. High on her list of priorities was regrouping the shattered Capellan military. She rebuilt units that had sustained heavy casualties during the war, and set about hiring mercenaries to replace destroyed units. She also rewarded McCarron's Armored Cavalry for its exceptional service by making it a Regular unit receiving hazard pay for regular duty.
Before Romano could go any further in reorganizing the Capellan Confederation, the realm was attacked on two fronts by the recently allied Duchy of Andurien and Magistracy of Canopus. The Andurien forces attacked the Capellan world of Betelgeuse, location of one of only four working BattleMech factories left in the Confederation. Forces from the Magistracy struck at the Capellan worlds nearest it, such as New Roland and Andarmax, intending to carve a pathway of star systems linking the Canopian and Andurien realms. The Canopian forces encountered only light resistance, but Betelgeuse refused to give way under the Andurien attacks.
In March 3032, the Capellans mounted a major counteroffensive. Aided by the feared McCarron's Armored Cavalry, the Liao forces defeated the Anduriens with major victories on Primus and Prix, while House Daidachi and Kincade's Rangers meted out the same to the Canopians at Drozan. The ferocity of House Daidachi was so effective against the Canopians that troops began to flee the battlefield at first sign of the warriors. The Anduriens were not as easily bullied, but with their allies in rout, they could not withstand the pressure from the seasoned Armored Cavalry. By 3035, the Capellans had won back all their worlds.
Once the Spector joined the arsenal of the SLDF, the covert nature of its missions denied it the usual press coverage afforded many other SLDF 'Mechs. All records of the Spector were believed lost with the fall of the Star League until September of 3048, when rumors started spreading throughout the Inner Sphere that the mercenary unit McCarron's Armored Calvalry had found a Star League base and several lostech 'Mechs on its home planet of Menke. At about the same time, the mercenary unit Storm's Metal Thunder began raiding Marik border worlds in 'Mechs that a few experts recognized from Star League-era books. Neither McCarron's Armored Calvalry nor Storm's Metal Thunder have admitted to deploying vintage Star League 'Mechs, including the deadly Spector.
The first upgraded Vedette tanks rolled out from the Hellespont plant in October 3054. The design saw its first field action nearly a year later with Christobal's Regiment, part of McCarron's Armored Cavalry. The Regiment had been stationed on Harloc when the planet came under raiding attacks by the Arcadians, a mercenary unit under contract to the St. Ives Compact. For the better part of a week the Regiment pursued the Arcadians without success. Then the Arcadian commander, apparently unfamiliar with the planet's terrain, led his force high into the Owen Stanley Mountains, unaware that the area was accessible by only one pass. In response, the Regiment commander set an ambush by ordering his Vedettes to dig in along the sides of the pass. When the Arcadians attempted to exit the area, the Regiment 'Mechs forced them through the pass, where the Vedettes engaged them. Seven Vedettes and their crews were destroyed in the fighting, but not before they destroyed an equal number of enemy 'Mechs.
In 3058, at approximately the same time that Katrina Steiner-Davion formed the Lyran Alliance, the Saiph Triumvirate planet of New Canton was attacked by a Capellan invasion force consisting of McCarron's Armored Cavalry. That mercenary unit encountered the First Kestral Grenadiers, an elite unit fanatically loyal to Prince Victor Davion. The two units reached a stalemate after two months of protracted engagements. As both sides dug in to wait for reinforcements that would never arrive, the mercenaries and the Grenadiers came under more frequent attacks from terrorists and, later, unidentified 'Mechs. After several weeks of such attacks and the growing hostility from New Canton's population, both the Armored Cavalry and the Grenadiers withdrew from New Canton.
The only unit stationed on Hsien at the onset of the Marik-Liao Sarna March invasion was the Second F-C RCT, a unit considered fanatically loyal to House Davion. Though determined to hold the world against the Liao assault, the Second RCT quickly fell to the First and Second Regiments of McCarron's Armored Cavalry. Marshal Irene Thome led the Second in a retreat offworld to Elgin, where she hoped to refit and resupply and return to Hsien. Unfortunately for the Second, the Free Worlds League mercenary unit Swann's Cavaliers sent to aid the Capellan rebellion on Elgin, destroyed all of the Second but the command lance. As soon as the units of McCarron's Armored Cavalry established the rule of Capellan governor Robert Thomay, they moved on to a new assignment. The refitted Goblin tank first saw action on the world of Hsien during this recent action in the Sarna March. Marik forces destroyed the aerospace assets of the Second Federated Commonwealth RCT, enabling regiments of McCarron's Armored Cavalry to drop onto the planet and strike at the Second RCT's ground forces. The Second had been using the new Goblin for more than four years, and the unit's commander, Marshal Thome, was intimately familiar with their capabilities. The FC Marshal threw most of the Goblins into the battle that took place in the city of Chengde, where bitter street fighting devastated units on both sides.
"The Big MAC" is comprised of 5 frontline regiments and one training regiment. One frontline regiment is on Menke at all times, with each regiment spending time on the planet in rotation as the Menke Defense Force.
Unit Name Experience Regiments Homeworld
McCarron's Armored Cavalry Regular 1 Hustaing
(CO: Colonel Rodney Finn)
Elite 1 Harloc
(CO: Colonel Samuel Cristobal)
Regular 1 Overton
(CO: Colonel Otto Kung)
Veteran 1 Gei-Fu
(CO: Colonel Vallory Gordon)
Veteran 1 Relevow
(CO: Colonel Victor MacBride)
"McCarron's Armored Cavalry is currently the only unit equipped with any number of these new Huron Warrior 'Mechs, but they have reported nothing but success in their operations."
1669 McCarron's Armored Cavalry (c)1992
Colonel Marcus Barton commands the Second Regiment of McCarron's
Armored Cavalry, also known as Barton's Regiment, and he is a man
obsessed. He has waited forty years to avenge his father's
dishonor at the hands of Lester J. Otto. He blew his first
chance, but he swears he will not make another mistake. He knows
he has a second chance on Marlette, and Marcus Barton will have
his revenge this time or die trying. And either way he plans to
take his regiment with him.
McCarron's Armored Cavalry is a BattleTech scenario pack which
includes the unit's history, prominent members, and special
equipment. The scenarios chronicle the campaign known as Otto's
Last Stand, and can be used individually or as a campaign
culminating in one of three different endings. Otto's Last Stand
features deadly installations and a point-based system for
customizing the defending forces, so that the scenarios can be
fought more than once and never be the same game twice.