The 3rd Marine Shaik are the ground forces belonging to the 3rd Assault Fleet
Marines of the 3rd Marine Shaik is mostly found on-board the 3rd Assault Fleet's Hray Gunships. The primary responsibility of the 3rd is to act as a quick reaction force in the event that a friendly planet has been occupied by hostile forces, or to create a beachhead during a planetary invasion. Secondary responsibility of the 3rd is to conduct raids on pirates, smugglers, planets, etc.
Members of the 7th Light Infantry Division, 89th Light Infantry Division, 242nd Heavy Infantry Division and 23rd Infantry Division and 50th Recon Brigade all belong to the 3rd Shaik.
Members: 210,000 Marines Commanding Officer: Field Marshal Ramone Patterson Executive Officer: General Steven Schofield
Commanding Officer: Division General Jack Scheumacker
Originally given the call-sign “Ripper 2”, the amount of hostile forces killed by the 7th Light Infantry Division has surpassed those of the 89th Light Infantry Division due to the former's deployment in the Kennewes Offensive and the latter's assignment to ship security during the Offensive. Both Divisions constantly compete for the call-sign “Ripper 1”, an extremely heated rivalry encouraged by officers in the 3rd Shaik, as it is believed the competition is what makes members of the two Light Infantry Divisions so good. The Members of the 7th and 89th Light Infantry Divisions are considered the best in the Shaik, and are used to harass the flanks of an enemy force to draw strength from said force's front line, opening up lanes of attack for the 242nd Heavy Infantry Division and the 23rd Infantry Division. Members of the 7th and 89th Light Infantry Division almost exclusively use Hostile and AIR armors, and are given a lot more autonomy than the other Divisions. Heavy armors are rare in the two divisions.
Commanding Officer: Division General Hiram Jackson
Originally given the call sign “Ripper 1”, the amount of hostile forces killed by the 7th Light Infantry Division - or “those bastards” as the 89th refers to them as - have surpassed the amount killed by the 89th, giving them the new call sign “Ripper 2.” This is an extremely heated rivalry encouraged by officers in the 3rd Shaik, as it is believed the competition is what makes members of the two Light Infantry Divisions so good. The Members of the 7th and 89th Light Infantry Divisions are considered the best in the Shaik, and are used to harass the flanks of an enemy force to draw strength from said force's front line, opening up lanes of attack for the 242nd Heavy Infantry Division and the 23rd Infantry Division. Members of the 7th and 89th Light Infantry Division almost exclusively use Hostile and AIR armors, and are given a lot more autonomy than the other Divisions. Heavy armors are rare in the two divisions.
Commanding Officer: Division General General Duke R. Aige
The 242nd Heavy Infantry Division is primarily a heavy assault force, the shock troops of the 3rd Shaik, whose Marines have high enough morale and combat discipline required of troops that hold the main line while the Light Infantry Divisions attack the enemy flanks. The commander of the 242nd, Division General Duke R. Aige, is a heavily tattooed man, the tattoos on his face mimicking the splatter patterns of blood belonging to a Red Captain from what was known as “The Bloodletting of Kennewes”, when then-Captain Aige forced the surrender of a Red Squad by beating their squad leader to death in a bare-knuckle boxing match. “Captain Raige”, as he is affectionately known, prefers to use the overwhelming firepower and aggressiveness of his troops (many of which are Marines taken out of the brig.) Members of the 242nd rarely use anything but Aggressors, and with the addition of the Na-DMV32 into the Nepleslian Arsenal, the 242nd's role as the Division's fire support is cemented.
Commanding Officer: Brigadier General Ulysses Armstrong
The 23rd Infantry Division is a very well-balanced division, made up of Hostiles and Aggressors, as opposed to the lighter 7th and 89th Divisions, or the heavier 242nd Division. Their primary role is to augment the 242nd in an assault, or to act as a flanking force, or to provide extrication should the 7th and 89th Divisions become stuck under fire.
Commanding Officer: Brigadier General David Mattis
The 11th Recon Brigade is the 3rd's special forces. They are charged with carrying out a variety of shady assignments from the Hrays of the 3rd Assault Fleet, from assassination to reconnaissance to sharpshooting. In a large offense, members from the 11th Recon Brigade are split up and divided between the regular Infantry Brigades, their primary duty being the decapitation of leadership to make the 3rd's Offense even more potent.
Unlike most Nepleslian forces, which prefer a strong frontal assault supported by heavy bombardments, the 3rd Shaik makes extensive use of maneuver-based warfare.
The 3rd usually starts out with its 242nd Heavy Infantry Division positioned on the front lines, with the 7th and 89th Light Infantry Divisions positioned next to each other on either the left or right flank of the 242nd. The job of the two Light Divisions is to harass the flank of the enemy force, the intent being to direct enemy forces from the front lines towards the threatened flanks, opening up an opportunity for the heavier 242nd to advance slowly.
Positioned on the side opposite to the two light Divisions is the 23rd Infantry Division, whose job it is to augment the strength of the 242nd as a frontal assault force, or to act in the same manner as the two light divisions, albeit moving slower and not as far as the 7th and 89th.
Augmenting the several regular infantry divisions is the 50th Recon Brigade, the smallest force in the Shaik. The 50th Recon, made mostly of snipers, is charged with dividing their snipers up and placing them in each Division, their primary duty during an attack being to decapitate enemy leadership, making the 3rd's offense even more potent.
All units are given a large degree of freedom, where the Field Marshall tells the Commanding Officers of each unit their mission, leaving the execution of it up to them.
Because of its small size, the 3rd cannot afford to simply stand their ground and repel an assault.
Therefore, the 3rd has adopted a defensive scheme around the idea of an organized retreat, with units retreating to pre-designated points, holding their ground, and then retreating again.
The idea behind this strategy is for a smaller force to make use of its speed by continuing to retreat and defend, based around the idea that an attack can run out of momentum, whether it be from unit exhaustion or from terrain difficulties, etc.
Once the attack loses its momentum and stalls, the 3rd reforms in its initial battle line and counterattacks.