Zyd's Rough Riders

Overview of the Zyd's Rough Riders

"You may have heard of us. But soon...you'll fear us."

The Rough Riders have existed as a mercenary organization for generations. Routinely they have found themselves at odds with the Corre Republic as they generally choose clients outside of their borders. Originally, they fought alongside the Vortorian Federation on Zarlo in the months and cycles after the war against the Synthetics. The chaos that rushed into the void of the central power of the Corre Republic’s weakness left many ravaged by those who were stronger and willing to harm their neighbors. After the Federation gained its independence Major General Zyd, who still craved combat, wanted to assist other fledgling worlds that did not have a strong military. He took his rough riders and formed them into an official mercenary organization.

 

They traveled the stars aiding others in standing against the Republic’s might. Along the way they made many allies and continued to fight hard for contracts that allowed them preferential choice when it came to salvage and recovered supplies. This allowed them to bolster their forces and expand into a formidable force. At one point they were so massive that they resembled that of a libero battle group and the Republic was forced to recognize their collective power. After a campaign to shatter the Rough Riders during the first Reunification War a deal was made where the mercenaries could continue to exist but if they did not want to be hounded by the RAF then they needed to fragment into smaller groupings and spread out. In doing so the Republic would be willing to contract them for work but they retained their freedom and would roam the stars.

 

As the wars and battles for the second Reunification War boiled over the Rough Riders stood aside during the conflict and chose not to fight for any side. This tarnished their reputation somewhat, but they survived the war while a handful of larger rival mercenary groups were annihilated. In the wake of war the Rough Rider’s resumed work and secured even more power to themselves.

 

While they used to have their headquarters on Callidar, now the Rough Riders have relocated to the planet Saltun within the Faust Union. They retain a presence on Callidar but all of their training facilities, major bases of operation, and more were taken off-world. Their current primary client is the Faust Union and they are used as either a cudgel against Karldra and a very present danger against the Ethral Kingdom’s persistent operations on Laconia. The Rough Riders have built for themselves a reputation of being willing to faceoff against larger enemy formations and managing to come out on top. They make use of debilitating tactics to disrupt enemy communication and then gang up to crush individual enemy units.

 

The Rough Riders are well-known throughout the mercenary community. On more than one occasion other mercs that have been on the wrong side of a conflict with them and have decided to break their contract with their employer and stand down. They would rather a mark on their account than risk being obliterated. This has not been the case with the Blood Wolves who have bloodied the Roughriders three times to the point that the two organizations have a strong rivalry between them.

Zyd's Rough Riders playstyle in Revelations: Skirmish
The Rough Riders have their own catalog of models but also retain access to all generic mercenaries. Utilizing their connections to the Faust Union and Union of Stars the mercenaries are able to have access to certain models at a cheaper play cost than some other mercenary organizations will be able to. They prefer WarMechs that don't only rely on ammunition and will often try to always include energy focused armaments when possible. Seeing as how they can be deployed in hostile environments they have no issue employing the use of long-ranged missile platforms, but definitely prefer energy weaponry when possible.

  

New Player Guidance
The Rough Riders have their own catalog of models but also retain access to all generic mercenaries. It is probably a good idea to become more familiar with generic mercenary forces before going deep into the Rough Riders.