Mawite Legend
Kagan-Jin Rough Riders
OUT OF CHARACTER INFORMATION
- Intent: To incorporate lore from a prior dominion, and to give the Brotherhood thematic ground forces.
- Image Credit: Two images, combined in GIMP by
The Mongrel
- Orbak Marauder promotional picture from Star Wars: Commander website (Orbak, Background)
- Atillan Rough Rider via Lexicanum, originally from Codex: Imperial Guard, 5th Edition (Rider)
- Role: Tank Hunters, Light Support
- Permissions: N/A
- Links: Orbaks, Jin, Tiantang, BotM Dominion of Tiantang
- Unit Name: Kagan-Jin Rough Riders
- Affiliation: Brotherhood of the Maw
- Classification: Cavalry
Description: Rough Riders are traditional Kagan-Jin mounted warriors, fighting from the backs of war-trained Orbaks. Clad in lightweight blast armor and warm but breathable garments woven from Orbak wool, they cut an impressive profile, especially when wielding their 4-meter lances on a 50 km/h charge. The riders, accustomed to quite literally living in the saddle for long periods, carry everything they need in their saddlebags - and it usually isn't much, just equipment to groom their Orbaks and some trail rations. They also carry blaster rifles lashed to their mounts, which they can swap out for their lances to harass enemies at a distance if there isn't a good opportunity to charge. The Orbaks themselves are unarmored, to keep them fast and agile. Many of them bear battle scars.
- Unit Size: Medium
- Unit Availability: Uncommon
- Unit Experience: Veteran
- Equipment: Power Lance, Blaster Rifle, Proton Grenades, Blast Armor, Orbak mount
Combat Function: Rough Riders are used primarily as tank-hunters, targeting hovertanks, APCs, and walkers that Brotherhood infantry has historically struggled to overcome. Their organic mounts are generally more maneuverable than enemy armor, allowing them to dodge and weave around mechanized formations... and to charge through them. Their one-two punch of power lances and proton grenades can be devastating even to heavy armor, though they must beware of point-defense systems and blaster turrets while on the charge. Rough Riders can also provide light support on the flanks of a Brotherhood host, harassing enemy units from range with their blaster rifles. Fast and mobile, they can keep harrying their foes for days or even weeks, melting away when the enemy tries to close in on them.
- Anti-Vehicle Armaments: Rough Riders carry power lances with superheated tips. When these weapons are combined with the momentum of an Orbak charge, they are capable of cutting through heavy durasteel plating like a hot knife through butter, shredding vehicle armor and damaging the sensitive electronics and hydraulics beneath. The riders also carry high-explosive proton grenades, designed to demolish the weak points of entire structures... and thus capable of doing terrible damage to enemy vehicles. They can be calibrated to explode on impact or after a short delay, and have magnetized bottoms. This allows the riders to toss them onto their targets as they charge past, doing initial damage with their lances; the grenades then detonate once the riders have cleared the area, wreaking further havoc.
- Mobile Harassers: Rough Riders carry mid to long-range blaster rifles, and are adept at firing them accurately from the saddle, even while moving at high speed. This allows them to harass the flanks of enemy infantry formations without being easily pinned down, constantly and swiftly changing position even as they pepper their foes with blasterfire. If the opportunity arises to charge through an infantry formation, the riders' power lances are gruesomely effective against flesh and bone. Harassment campaigns can be carried out over days or even weeks. Kagan-Jin are said to be born in the saddle, and can certainly sleep in it whenever necessary. They know how to hunt and forage, and carry everything they need in their saddlebags. Orbaks are similarly hardy, easily subsisting on even minimal amounts of water and plant matter.
- Vulnerable Mounts: The Rough Riders' Orbak mounts are tough, hardy beasts, well-trained for war... but they are still beasts, and they do not wear armor. They are vulnerable not only to wounds from blaster or blade but also to poison gas, harsh environmental conditions, lack of food, and exhaustion. They cannot deploy in vacuum or on planets without a breathable atmosphere, and they require time to rest and eat after intense riding. Although their training usually keeps them under control even amidst the loud noises, intense heat, and bright lights of battle, they can be frightened by nearby bursts of flame or the presence of certain predators, sometimes causing them to attempt to buck their riders and flee. A Rough Rider who loses his mount is no more effective than a common footsoldier, and cannot even carry all of his gear.
- Reliant Upon Mobility: Rough Rider units are most powerful on the charge, when they can put momentum on their side, or when engaging in mobile harassment tactics with their rifles. If they fail to piece through enemy lines and end up stuck in melee combat, however, their effectiveness drops dramatically. They are no match for infantry up close, where their lances are too long to use and their rifles are unwieldy, particularly if the infantry is elite or heavily-armored. This forces them to be very cautious about when and where to charge, lest they become trapped, swarmed, and pulled from their saddles.
No one knows exactly where Orbaks originated; they have spread far across the galaxy, used as mounts and beasts of burden on hundreds of worlds. When Tiantang developed hyperdrive technology and rejoined the galactic community in the post-Great Darkness era, xenobiologists were thrilled to discover that Orbaks had been part of the planet's culture for as long as local history could record. This meant that the ancient Jedi and Republic expedition that had crashed on Tiantang, leading to the planet's millennia of isolation and the creation of its unique society, had included Orbaks; there was no other way they could have reached the far-flung world, which had not seen an interstellar traveler since that ancient crash. While all parts of Tianese society used Orbaks in a wide variety of roles, the creatures were most revered by the nomadic Kagan-Jin.
For the Kagan-Jin, rural hunters and farmers who lived on Tiantang's steppe hinterland, Orbaks were central to their way of life. Kagan-Jin were said to be born in the saddle, and were certainly the finest riders on Tiantang, if not far beyond. The nomads wove their garments from Orbak wool, drank fermented Orbak milk, and hunted steppe game from the backs of their Orbaks. In times of war - and these were frequent among the fractious clans - they raided from the saddle, employing devastating charges and mobile harassment tactics to defeat their foes. When they were united under the great Temujin Khaan, the clans used these tactics to such devastating effect that they broke the armies of the Jin Dynasty and sacked the imperial capital, slaying the emperor and pillaging his palace. But they grew bored with rulership and returned to the plains.
When the Brotherhood of the Maw arrived to conquer Tiantang, they did so in part by recruiting the Kagan-Jin. Offering glory and plunder to the new Great Khaan, Ogedei, they persuaded the nomads to join them, and immediately rewarded them by breaking down the walls of the great trade city of Guangzuishan. That was to be the Great Horde's last conquest as an independent entity. Once Tiantang fell, the Kagan-Jin were folded into the Brotherhood's existing marauder tribes. Kagan-Jin Rough Rider units were trained and supplied on a variety of Brotherhood worlds, particularly Lao-mon, where they learned to hunt the planet's massive jungle predators from Orbak-back... but this took time, as did ensuring their loyalty to the Maw alone. Tribal identities gradually replaced clan heritage, and Ogedei Khaan quietly vanished when he was no longer needed as a figurehead.
As a result, the Rough Riders were not deployed to Csilla or Ilum, but were ready in time for many of the subsequent raids.
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