Beta Canum Venaticorum

BCV-4 remains the central pivot of Commonwealth operations within the French Arm. It provides a central location for the deployment of forces throughout the Beta Canum Cluster in which the British and Azanian colonies are located. In addition the Dominion of New Africa retains the largest populations of abandoned Kafer soldiers now dug into the depths of the New African rain forest.

As a result the CEF presence on BCV-4 is divided into two major Corps, each composed of two divisions and a number of independent brigades. II Corps is dedicated to providing the Dominion and the wider planet with a powerful manoeuvre warfare force in addition to providing contingents for other tasks. V Corps has recently been formed for the task of defending the colony and prosecuting the war against the residual Kafers in the so-called K-Zone.

Commonwealth forces on Beta Canum-4 have set up a range of Battle Schools to indoctrinate new arrivals and to pass on good practise. The V Corps Patrol School run by hard bitten veterans of the K-Zone, whilst the Defence School passes on lessons learned by the New African Resistance in the former occupied zones. All battle schools on Beta Canum stress the prevailing belief in the effectiveness of close quarter battle techniques against Kafers in the initial stages of a contact. Ambush and mine warfare skills are also stressed.

II (Commonwealth) Corps

II Corps is the main manoeuvre element of the Commonwealth Expeditionary Forces, and due to the multi-national nature of its units has taken on the Commonwealth name. II Corps (then II (British) Corps) moved up to Beowulf shortly after the fall of Kimanjano and prepared for the defence of that colony as well as possible offensive operations. II Corps had operational command of all Commonwealth, French and German forces involved in the 3rd Liberation and controlled most of the subsequent operations.

With the creation of V Corps it now concentrates of providing mobile defence for New Africa as well as planning for further large scale operations off-world for which it is tasked with providing command and control. II Corps directly controls 2 armoured divisions and three independent brigades and is equipped with the most modern equipment available.

Corps Recce Group
 
3rd Light Dragoons (18th Hussars) (3 LD)
1st Bn, The Royal Greys (1 R GREYS)
 
1st (Guards) Armoured Brigade Group
 
1 Armd Bde is the only British heavy armoured brigade deployed off Earth. In fact the brigade has been heavily reinforced into a substantial and powerful fighting force including an extra assault hover-infantry battalion and an air regiment. The Bde was originally a part of the 1st (British) Armoured Division and was reorganised and sent up-Arm arriving on BC-4 in the second wave of forces. It saw frequent action in urban clearance operations across the colony. The brigade consists of 3 Household units from Britain, a Royal Tank Regiment and a battalion of attached Dutch Guards.
 
1st Life Guards (1 LG)
1st Royal Tank Regiment (1 RTR)
2nd Bn, The Coldstream Guards (2 COLD GDS)
2nd Bn, The Scots Guards (2 SG)
101 Bn, Guarde Regiment Fusiliers Prinses Irene (101 NL GDS)
Full colour badge of the 1st (Guards) Armoured Brigade. Designed by Rex Whistler and first worn by the Guards Division of WW1 and the Guards Armoured Division of WW2. Its use for 'Guards Armoured' formations was resumed in 2185.

This badge is usually found on vehicles of the brigade.
1 Canadian Armoured Brigade Group
 
1 CABG is the main Canadian contribution to the war effort and was accompanied by its own dedicated starlift assets that made the unit exceptionally strategically mobile and a very valuable asset. 1 CABG was involved in the first wave of landings on BCV-4 and saw some fierce action in the north of the German Continent against experienced Kafer manoeuvre units. The Brigade has been rotating fresh soldiers into its major units and is undergoing a intensive training program.
 
Lord Strathcona's Horse (Royal Canadians) (LStH)
1st Battalion, Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry (1 PPCLI)
3rd Battalion, Princess Louise's Canadian Fusiliers (3 PLCF)
The black Maple Leaf of the Canadian Expeditionary Force is almost universally worn by all Canadian service personnel on the French Arm. This subdued version is the most commonly seen in the Canadian Armoured Brigade.
 
1 New African Special Duties Brigade
 
1 NASD Bde has recently been created by amalgamating the old Special Duties Command and the remaining battalions of the New African Legion. The brigade is unique in the NADF in that all of its soldiers are regular volunteer soldiers, either from the ranks of the New African Army or from overseas volunteers into the Legion.
 
All of the battalions are lightly equipped and trained for long duration, deep penetration counter-Kafer operations. Whilst the brigade is under the control of II Corps it maintains a high operational pitch by rotating through the K-Zone under V Corps OPCON. Additionally the brigade's training cadres undertake their final 'exercises' under operational conditions in the K-Zone, the brigade takes the concept of 'blooding' its soldiers very literally.
 
15 Commando (15 CDO)
Westmark Rifles (WEST RIFLES)
1st (Chasseur) Bn, The New African Legion (1 NAL)
3rd (Hunter) Bn, The New African Legion (3 NAL)
Inspired both by a 20th Century Commando badge and the indigenous Garoc Salamander (a hardy creature that survives the intense biannual Grassland fires). The Special Duties Brigade wears this patch signifying their desire to go through fire or suffer any torment to succeed in their missions.

7th (British) Armoured Division

7th Armd Div is a recently organised division and was initially composed of the British Army's crack independent Armoured Brigades. However since its formation the battered 79 Armd Bde was sent back to Beowulf to refit and rebuild, and was replaced by 9 Armd Bde from 3rd Division. This change was much resented by the other brigades in the division who saw themselves as an elite and the presence of the Guards as diluting their skills. Since their arrival feelings have relaxed somewhat although it is still common for 9 Armd Bde to work closely under Division HQ whilst the other two brigades have more freedom of action.

Divisional Recce Group
 
1st RGL Hussars (1 RGL H) (-B Sqn)
1st RGL Jaegers (1 RGL J) (detached)
 
7th (British) Armoured Brigade
 
7 Armd Bde, the Desert Rats, were an Earth based armoured reaction brigade that was quickly re-roled for off-Earth fighting and reached Beowulf just before the Fall of Kimanjano. It was a key element in the 3rd Liberation of Beta Canum, being the first Armd Bde to be landed and subsequently involved in much of the fighting on all four continents.
 
B Sqn, 1st Recce Bn, Huzaren Prins van Oranje (B/1 NL RECCE)
2nd Dragoons (2 D)
1st Bn, The Cheshire Regiment (1 CHESHIRE)
3rd Bn, The Queen's Regiment (3 QUEENS)
The 7th Armoured Brigade is descended from the famous 7th Armoured Division that fought against the Afrika Korps in the Western Desert Campaign in WW2. 7 Armd Bde continues to wear the easily recognisable 'Desert Rat' or Jerboa symbol which is ubiquitous throughout the brigade on uniforms, vehicles and buildings.
9th (Guards) Armoured Brigade
 
9 Armd Bde was a conventional hover armoured bde and a part of 3 Armd Div on Earth and was deployed with that Division to Beowulf shortly after the Liberation commenced. It was transferred to 7 Armd Div to replace the badly damaged 79 Armd Bde that had been involved in the fighting since the Invasion of Beta Canum. The brigade includes two battalions from the Household Division and so is designated a Guards brigade and uses the 'Guards Armoured' badge.
 
Y Sqn, 10th/11th Hussars (Y 10/11 H)
3rd Dragoons (3 D)
1st Bn, The Grenadier Guards (1 GREN GDS)
1st Bn, The Irish Guards (1 IG)
Subdued 9th (Guards) Armoured Brigade shoulder patch. A similar patch is worn by 1 Armd Bde. The 10th/11th Hussars attached to the brigade continue to wear their 7 Armd Bde patches.
1st RGL Brigade
 
1 RGL Bde is manned by soldiers of Britain's Royal German Legion, composed of foreign (mostly German) troops recruited in to the British Army. Most are veteran soldiers and the brigade has an exemplary reputation for its battle skills. The RGL Bde was deployed on Beta Canum soon after the Desert Rats and involved in many of the same actions especially on the German Continent. Elements of the Bde also saw substantial action on Crater and Dunkleheim.
 
B Sqn, 1st RGL Hussars (B 1 RGL H)
1st RGL Dragoons 'Kampfgruppe Reinhardt' (1 RGL D)
1st RGL Line 'Kampfgruppe Paterson' (1 RGL L)
3rd RGL Line 'Kampfgruppe Jansen' (3 RGL L)

11th (Commonwealth) Armoured Division

The Wellon government was one of the first to offer troops to the CEF and although the Wellon Expeditionary Force took some time to build up the Wellon contribution soon became a significant one. One of the contributions was the offer of a fully functioning divisional HQ from 11 (Wellon) Armd Div, which was soon accepted for inclusion in the follow on forces on Beta Canum. The Div HQ arrived on Beta Canum in September 2302 after build-up training on Beowulf, and soon proved its worth in co-ordinating previously uncoordinated brigade groups.

The division has had a variety of units under its control, including at different times British, Canadian, Alicia, Australian, German and New African Brigades. Its commander made the immediate decision on arrival at BCV-4 to adopt the 'Commonwealth' tag in the divisional title. 11 Armd Div, usually known and referred to as the 'Commonwealth Armoured', has acquired a fine name for itself resting on the skills of its brigades, the high quality of its divisional staff composed of the finest Wellonese officers and attached Commonwealth personnel. The division currently commands brigades from Wellon, Alicia and a newly organised New African brigade.

Divisional Recce Group
 
The Commonwealth Armoured's DRG is composed of a Wellonese armoured recce regiment and a British close recce battalion.
 
The Lord Woolf's Dragoon Guards (LWDG)
1st Bn, The Scottish Rifles (1 SR)
 
1 (Wellon) Armoured Brigade
 
1 Wellon Armd Bde is a pre-War Wellon Army formation that was amongst the first to be re-roled for possible deployment with the Wellon Expeditionary Force. Re-equipped and trained to a high pitch before leaving Tirane, this formation has earned itself an excellent reputation since its arrival on Beta Canum. Internal rivalry in the brigade centres on the cultural differences between the highly disciplined blue-bloods of the Wellon Guards and the heavily tattooed and often ritually scarred mavericks of the Royal Southerns.
 
6th Wellon Armoured Regiment (6 WAR)
2nd Bn, The Wellon Guards (2 Wellon Gds)
1st Bn, The Royal Southern Regiment (1 R South R)
Wellon's Armoured Brigades generally have badges based either on mythical creatures or native Wellonese fauna. 1 (Wellon) Armd Bde is no exception and has taken the afanc, a vicious bear-like creature found in the northern Tiralbion, as its symbol.

This is applied worn both as a shoulder patch and as shown here as a silhouette. This is found on every vehicle in the brigade.
 
1 New African Armoured Brigade
 
1 NA Armd Bde is a recently organised formation designed to give the NADF its own integral manoeuvre warfare capacity. Its constituent battalions have had 6 months of intensive training for their new role and have received the latest armoured vehicles fresh from Alician factories. The brigade has yet to see action as a formation and hopes to be blooded in the K-Zone soon, but has been progressing well on exercises so far.
 
The Tiger Hussars (TH)
2nd Bn, The New African Light Infantry (2 NALI)
1st Bn, The Mavericks (New Middlesex Irish) (1 MAV)
 
8th (Alicia) Brigade
 
8 Bde is the primary element of the Alician Expeditionary Force. Organised during the darkest days of the Invasion it is composed of three infantry-heavy armoured battlegroups and manned by the some of the finest Alician soldiers. Although only a part of the follow on forces during the Liberation of BCV-4 it's skills at night fighting and disciplined, tactically aggressive fighting style has made it increasingly important and highly regarded asset by II Corps HQ.
 
1st Bn, The Duke of Alicia's Own Regiment (1 DAO)
2nd Bn, Royal Alician Marines (2 RAM)
1st Bn, The Dragon Regiment of Alicia (1 DRAGON)

V (New African) Corps

V Corps, often referred to in the New African press as the Vengeance Corps, has been recently created in order to provide dedicated defensive capacity for the British Continent. It also has an overview remit in relation to the reserve and volunteer formations of the New African Defence Forces. However its primary mission is the conduct of operations against the residual Kafer presence in the K-Zone. In pursuit of this aim the Corps is composed of two infantry heavy Light Divisions, who conduct high intensity patrolling and Fireforce counter-Kafer operations. V Corps also has three International Brigades under OPCON who also take part in patrolling operations in the K-Zone and in providing reaction forces against Kafer sallies from the K-Zone.

International (East African) Brigade
 
The East African Brigade was the first of the multi-national International Brigades, and fell victim to virtually all of the problems suffered by the others. Without access to military starlift and with much civilian shipping impressed by the starfaring powers the brigade was effectively stranded on Earth. Only when much of the brigade's independence of action had been bargained away was it finally moved up arm in November of 2302 as part of the Commonwealth forces and deployed to Beta Canum. The brigade has suffered from poor flow of supplies and casualty replacements from the home nations and most units are seriously understrength and two have amalgamated.
 
The Brigade Commander has also made herself unpopular with higher command with her repeated media pronouncements and perceived egotism. In spite of these problems the East African Brigade has welded into an effective and reliable military force although it lacks the equipment and training for high intensity manoeuvre operations.
 
'C' Company, Mtondo Scouts (Malawi)
9th 'Kasungu' Ranger Battalion (Malawi)
1st/2nd Askari za Dunia Regiment (1st/2nd AzD) (Tanzania)
2nd Bn, The Kenyan Rifles (2 KR) (Kenya)
 
International (Southern Africa) Brigade
 
The Southern Africa Brigade was perhaps the least haphazardly organised of the International Brigades. It is composed of crack light infantry units drawn from amongst Azanian satellite nations and organised on standard Azanian lines. As a defacto part of the Azanian military it saw service on Kimanjano and Joi before being deployed to Beta Canum to operate against the K-Zone. The Southern Africa Brigade is tough, well trained and with excellent operational experience.
 
1 Commando Battalion (Zimbabwe)
Combat Group 12 (Namibia)
2 Batalhão Cacadores Pára-quedistas Especial (Angola)
 
International (Indian Sub-Continent) Brigade
 
The Indian Brigade has had one of the most convoluted gestation period having been put together by normally warring Indian States. The project was nearly stillborn on a number of occasions but eventually got underway and was swiftly sent to Beowulf, partly to get out of the political arena. Surprising this mechanised brigade gelled quickly with the individual continents respecting each others skills. The unit deployed to Beta Canum in February 2303 and was on operations in the K-Zone soon after.
 
1st Bombay Armoured Regiment (Hodson's Horse) (Bombay)
6th Bn, The Guards (India)
2nd Bn, The Sikh Regiment (Punjab)
1st Bn, The 5th Independent Gorkha Rifles (Royal Frontier Force) (Nepal)

1st (Commonwealth) Light Division

1 Light Div is the most combat experienced division in the British orbat, having seen action on Beta Canum since the initial Kafer Invasion and taken part in every major operation since then. Today it retains only one of its original brigades but has held onto a vastly experienced divisional staff and its impressive esprit de corps, styling itself as The Division. 1 Light Div has a complement of veteran British and Gurkha infantrymen and aggressive Anglo-Wellonese paratroopers and has a adopted the prestigeous Commonwealth tag.

Divisional Recce Group
 
1 Light Div Recce Gp is composed of two excellent formations. 3 RTR is normally deployed in support of 1 Cdo Div and its personnel are entirely commando trained, equipped with Montgomery HBT's it is capable of both recce and assault tasks. Whilst the all volunteer Tarakiwa Rangers battalion from New Zealand has proved immensely capable in the close recce, light infantry and raiding roles.
 
3rd Royal Tank Regiment (Commando) (3 RTR(Cdo))
The Tarakiwa Rangers (NZ)
 
2nd (British) Light Brigade
 
2 Light Bde was a part of 1 Light Div during the initial invasion and has remained with it ever since. Badly savaged in the Chill Valley campaign it's units rebuilt, integrating New African volunteers into their ranks. The Bde has seen repeated action since then and after the Liberation was brought back up to strength with BCR drafts whilst one battalion was rotated back to Earth as it was so understrength. The brigade has a hard fighting and hard drinking reputation and has been due for rotation back to the core but GOC 1 Light Div insists on retaining its services. Some divisional and brigade staff fear that the brigade is becoming stale however.
 
2nd Bn, The Yorkshire Regiment (2 YORKS)
1st Bn, The Black Watch (1 BW)
1st Bn, The Royal Greenjackets (1 RGJ)
 
1st Gurkha Brigade
 
1 Gurkha Bde was deployed on Joi during the Invasion and was called upon to fight in the bitter campaign to scour Japanese and German colonies of Kafer troops. The Bde languished until September 2302 when it was called upon to replace 1 Light Bde on Beta Canum. The Bde's disciplined patrolling, high body counts and willingness to use their Kukhri knives on the Kafers have endeared them to the sometimes cynical New African public.
 
1st Bn, The Royal Gurkha Rifles (1 RGR)
3rd Bn, The Royal Gurkha Rifles (3 RGR)
5th Bn, The Royal Gurkha Rifles (5 RGR)
 
1 (Wellon) Airmobile Brigade
 
This Wellonese Bde was an early addition to the Wellonese Expeditionary Force and saw extensive training before leaving Tirane. It is well equipped with aircraft and is most often used to provide Fireforce support to the other two brigades, although it also undertakes patrolling operations. The brigade is aggressive, flamboyant and media savvy and has proved an excellent addition to 1 Light Div.
 
3rd Bn, The Parachute Regiment (3 PARA)
101st Bn, The Royal Wellon Airmobile Regiment (101 RWAR)
103rd Bn, The Royal Wellon Airmobile Regiment (103 RWAR)
The Royal Wellon Airmobile Regiment is descended from the three battalions of the Parachute Regiment raised on Wellon in the early years of the colony. On Home Rule these units were passed onto the new Wellon Army and were renamed. This change was unpopular in the RWAR, however the Wellonese retained the pegasus flash surmounted by the usual 'Wellon' national flash.
 

3rd (New African) Light Division

3 Light Div is the main fighting formation in the New African Defence Force and is deployed alongside 1 Light Div in patrolling and operating against the K-Zone. If the Division's national servicemen sometimes lack the general skills and finesse of the solders in 1 Light Div, they make up for it with implacable hatred of the Kafers and a burning desire for revenge.

The Division is composed of all of the NADF's reformed pre-War regular battalions and these units retain strong cadres of experienced officers and NCOs to steady the young national servicemen. Divisional command staff has come from the ranks of the original New African Light Bde that fought under 1 Light Div during the Occupation.

Divisional Recce Group
 
Jameson's Scouts (J SCOUTS)
 
1 New African Light Brigade
 
1st Bn, The New African Light Infantry (1 NALI)
1st Bn, The New Middlesex Scottish (1 NMS)
3rd Bn, The New African Regiment (3 NAR)
The New African Light Brigades all use a variation on the theme of the phoenix, denoting the rebirth of New Africa after the Kafer Occupation. The numeral above the phoenix represents the brigade, whilst the numeral '3' represents the 3rd Light Division to which the brigade is normally attached.
 
2 New African Light Brigade
 
1st Bn, The New African Regiment (1 NAR)
4th Bn, The New African Regiment (4 NAR)
6th Bn, The New African Regiment (6 NAR)
 
3 New African Light Brigade
 
1st Bn, The Royal Volunteer Rifle Corps of New Africa (1 RVRC)
2nd Bn, The New African Regiment (2 NAR)
7th Bn, The New African Regiment (7 NAR)

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