Dragoons Rating: C
Size: Reinforced 'Mech Company
Reliability: Reliable
Status: Veteran
History: The Wylde Boars are commanded by "Lucky" Jack Wylde, a former company commander with the Federation Suns 1st Armored Cavlary who served in the clan wars up until the truce at Tukkayid. After the war, Jack took his severance package when Katrina Steiner II took over the Federated Commonwealth, and used that money to start his own mercenary unit. After betting his 'mech in a game of cards - a game which he won with only a pair of fours, earning him his nickname "lucky" Jack - Jack won a sizeble amount of money, enough to purchase a new 'mech and hire a pilot. The person he hired was his old company executive officer, a tough female mechwarrior named Cherise Harrigan. The two of them took on several low-level contracts, including one offered by the Free World's Leage to scout out a small 'mech depot and staging area on the Lyran world of Pencader, just accross the League border. The Leage contact merely wanted Jack to verify what they beleved was already true...that the depot was empty, and the 'mechs stored there moved to another site. So, they felt they were making a good deal when they offered Jack minimal pay, but full salvage rights. Once again, "lucky" Jack earned his name, dropping in on the site with Steiner drop ships two days out, and the mechs powered down and disarmed for transport. Quickly taking the site, Jack made off with four brand-new Lyran heavy mechs, much to the chagrin of the League contact who hired him. He sold the 'mechs to the League, and used the money to purchase and upgrade new 'mechs and hire pilots, giving himself a single heavy lance of combined Inner Sphere and Clan tech machines.
Jack believes in two things in building his unit; that quality counts far more than quantity, and that intense training in gunnery makes for a successful attack. Using these two personal rules as a guide for building his unit, Jack has had the habit of selling off chassis to purchase new equipment in order to upgrade his best machines; it's not unknown for him to sell two 'mechs just to upgrade one with a few clan tech weapons. He also believes in finding the very best match in 'mechs and pilots, and spares no expense in outfitting his mechwarriors rides with the best tech that he can get that matches their most effective style. He pays above the average for a mercenary unit, but takes only mechwarriors that are a good fit with his team and who show promise at gunnery. His gunnery practice program is brutal and exhausting...where most inner sphere militaries have 5 levels of gunnery tables, Jack has devised ten, with the most difficult table including computer malfunctions, weapon malfuntions, adverse weather conditions, combined arms targets and short target visibility times. And, where each mechwarrior in the typical inner sphere military has to qualify with a 70% score one time per year, Jack requires an 85% score twice per year. He has put a significant amount of money into the unit's simulators, and requires gunnery practice in the simpods every day a warrior isn't off duty or on assignment. Even the units single Union-class dropship, the Old Major, has simpods on board for practice while in transit to a mission. As a result, the Boars boast some of the finest gunnery in the inner sphere, rivaling that of front line clan units.
Currently, Jack fields a reinforced 'mech company, with one "heavy" medium lance, one heavy lance, and one assault lance. He also has an expanded command lance, giving him a total of sixteen 'mechs. All his 'mechs include some modifications, and all also include at least one clan system. Some of his mechs are captured clan machines, and his own personal mech the Warthog is a custom design built from clan technology.
Unit Tactics: Jack comes from a long line of cavalry officers, and can trace his ancestory back to 19th century Terra, where his distant relatiive Alastor Wylde was a cavalry officer in the Confederate Army in the old US Civil War. Jack's family is proud of this tradition, and maintains a healthy love for freedom and the occassional rebellion against authority. His tactics in battle are also a family tradition, and he follows the motto passed down from Alastor to each generation of Wyldes: never mind the tactics, just get at 'em. Using his units superior gunnery skills and high-potency equipment, Jack tends to favor positioning an enemy where he wants them, and then rushing them in a full assault with concentrated fire on key units. This has proven effective for the Boars over time, and earned them a reputation on the battlefield as implacable and somewhat ruthless foes. Jack and his unit have never been known to retreat or surrender, and will fight with rabid determination once the battle is joined. This tenacity combined with often awe-inspiring accuracy in even the worst conditions have lead many an opponent to avoid battle with the Boars rather than face the maiming or destruction of their forces.
Unit Scheme: The Wylde Boars always paint their mechs in a desert sand color with distinctive light gray trim, in deference to the commander's confederate cavalry ancestry. They also display a confederate flag prominantely on their 'mechs, as well as the units severed boar's head crest.
