Unit History

Operation BROADHEAD: The Reconnaissance and Securing of Little Rock
The Division moved from Fort El Dorado to the former city of Little Rock in July of 109 PA. After a month of unexpected resistance, they forced still-unidentified local forces off of a critical hill north of the city with heavy losses. The Division was granted a 90-day recovery period as a result. Security Forces expansion in 109 is partly attributed to divisional success in Little Rock.

Unit History: The Battle of Little Rock, 109 PA

Operation CLOSURE: The Conquest of Kingsdale
As a result of intensive negotiations between the Coalition and the free city of Whykin, Whykin joined the Coalition as a full member state. A secret provision of the agreement required Whykin's active participation in the overthrow of the neighboring city of Kingsdale, which had been a Coalition target for more than a decade. Kingsdale grew in importance when the Juicer Army of Liberation transferred its headquarters there, and Minister Prosek used his considerable resources to manipulate the situation in the city to the Coalition's favor before his Security Forces divisions moved into the city in a lightning-fast combined-arms operation.

Unit History: The Battle of Kingsdale, 109 PA

Winter 109: Eckertsville
The November 1, 109 PA declaration of full-on war against the Federation of Magic found the Death's Head Division already on Federation territory; elements of the Division had crossed the border before the Emperor's speech in pursuit of Juicer refugees from Kingsdale. The Juicers had been aided by well-equipped renegades using Coalition arms and equipment, including a Death's Head transport, and bringing them down became a fixation of General Eckert's. Unfortunately, the refugees were magically gated away almost as soon as contact was made, and the Division forced to stand in place rather than withdraw back to the west side of the Mississippi.

Because the Coalition build-up and the declaration of war came simultaneously, the Division was ordered to find a fortifiable position and halt in place, better to act as a forward assembly area for the coming war. Elements of the Division's light reconnaissance battalion investigated and seized control of a small farming community called Bartlesville, including a manor house which had previously belonged to a currently unknown power in the Federation. Divisional headquarters was erected in the manor and the division began fortifying the manor and surroundings, renamed Eckertsville by some facetious soldier.

During this period, the reconnaissance battalions and the engineering battalion were tasked together, worried more about constructing a defensible position than forward patrols. The first Coalition units other than the Division were scheduled to begin arriving no later than the end of the second week of November, 109 PA; accommodations had to be made ready for them.

The return of the manor house's owner in the last days of November led to casualties in excess of 50% in the engineering battalion and lesser but still shocking figures in the light reconnaissance battalion. On Eckert's orders, the remaining combat engineers and one company from the scout battalion were folded together into an assault battalion, with the special task of breaking strong points that might be facing the division when the planned spring offensive began.

The first frost of 109 came on 28 November, a harbinger of things to come. The beginning of December saw a massive assault on the division's positions, leading to a partial overrun and the consolidation of the two gathering regular-army divisions into the Death's Head Division, which centered its defenses on the well-fortified hill topped by the manor. This hill became known as the "beehive" because of its network of passages and the level of activity centered there. The sub-units of the division which were capable of active fighting on their own were dispersed to a number of forward bases, generally in company strength, which Eckert intended to act as tripwires. One of these bases, on Hill 130, was occupied by D Company, Death's Head Assault Battalion, which reported encountering and partially exploring a fallback for the manor's original owner on its assigned hilltop.

On the night of 18-19 December, a Great Lakes storm front covered the entire Federation of Magic border in blizzard conditions, grounding all Coalition air and creating dozens of pockets of isolated Coalition forces when radio and physical contacts were both cut. The Emperor decided it was better for the units thus trapped to stand in place, rather than attempt a breakout.

On the 21st, the winter solstice, the worst fighting of the war began well before sunrise. The 21st saw the loss of entire companies as well as the successful emergency deployment of the first phage artillery rounds. Most of the division's units consolidated back into Eckertsville, which became an effectively hedgehogged position that held for the three long months of winter. The division was unable to break out of Eckertsville, but fighting in from the west, the pocket was opened and a road reached the town by 15 March 110.

Reorganization
In the spring and summer of 110, the Division redeployed to Puerta Victoria, along the Texas coast. At this time, they began rebuilding, replacing their casualties and training the replacements. Because they were reorganizing as a much heavier division than they had been when deployed into Eckertsville, with both more men and more sturdy equipment, the reorganization was projected to take six months - long enough to put them back into action in time for the winter of 110. However, the Coalition began active operations in southeast Texas before the reorganization was complete.

Operation ANTHONY: The Occupation of Houstown
The Coalition Navy had complained for years about their relative lack of involvement in the wars first in Tolkeen, then in the Federation of Magic; this was resolved in July of 110, when the 1st Marine Division and the Death's Head Division acted in concert to seize the strategic free city of Houstown. The operation was marked mostly by the capture of Orpheus the Titan, a supernatural creature whom the assault battalion had been ordered to neutralize, with heavy casualties expected. Orpheus was captured, rather than dying, and Coalition casualties in the capture operation were minimal. It would be several weeks before the stunned Houstown defenses could collect themselves after the titan's capture.