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Regulan Hussars

Insignia of the Regulan Hussars
Regulan Hussars
Formed 2478[1]
Nickname War to the Knife[2]
Affiliation Free Worlds League
Parent Command Free Worlds League Military


General[edit]

The Regulan Hussars were the military force of the Principality of Regulus, and often opposed the Captain-General's control. The Hussars' regiments include the famed Rolling Thunder company.

History[edit]

Formation[edit]

Although the Regulan Hussars brigade was evidently formed as the BattleMech-equipped arm of the military of the Principality of Regulus in 2478[1] the origins of the Hussars actually began two centuries earlier, with the formation of the First Regulan Hussars, which was a single regiment commissioned in 2247 by the then newly formed Principality. When the Principality signed the Articles of Unification in 2271 that formed the Free Worlds League the Regulan Hussars retained its status as the sole military force of the Principality.[3]

Star League Era[edit]

When the Dormuth Council recommended the move of all of the regional forces to provincial status and the notional disbandment of three federal regiments to allow the Free Worlds League to be compliant with the Star League Council Edict of 2650, the Council also recommended that the Eighth Free Worlds Guards should be quietly integrated into the Regulan Hussars.[4]

The Regulan Hussars fell under suspicion during the war between Gerald Marik and House Selaj, the ruling family of the Principality of Regulus, following the assassination of Captain-General Terrence Marik in 2678.[3] The war finally ended in 2680, but not before the three regiments of Regulan Hussars had fought a delaying action on Hellos Minor and Harmony against six federal regiments to allow several members of House Selaj to escape into exile. The Regulan Hussars fought after a personal visit by Rajneesh Selaj, in which he protested his innocence, and as a consequence of the Hussars' experiences the brigade would remain wary of putting faith in politicians for centuries afterwards.[1]

When the Marik Civil War erupted the Regulan Hussars sided with Captain-General Elise Marik rather than her brother, Oliver Marik, and remained loyal to Elise and her son Bertram throughout the conflict despite the Hussars having been initially hit hard by the various forced retirements and purges instigated during the witch hunts conducted both by Elise Marik and her father before her. The Hussars' loyal support regained them the support and respect of Bertram and the rest of House Marik; Bertram rewarded the Hussars accordingly, with the Hussars receiving quantities of the latest equipment from production lines in the Marik Commonwealth.[3] Bertram also instigated the practice of ennobling the senior commanders within the Hussars down to the battalion commanders and awarded the Hussars a ten-thousand-acre estate in perpetuity.[1]

The Hussars remained vocally supportive of the Captain-General throughout the remainder of the Star League era; with the Principality's borders being largely secure, the Hussars were known to deploy outside the boundaries of the Principality despite being a provincial force. These deployments were usually either to engage in wargames and exercises with other regiments for training purposes, or to reinforce federal forces. Two new regiments of Hussars were founded by Duchess Elsa Cameron-Jones between the end of the Marik Civil War and 2765, the Fourth and Fifth Regulan Hussars, and the Fourth nearly became the first regiment of the Hussars to engage in combat with a Star League Defense Force formation. The Fourth had deployed to the world of Cameron for a training exercise - a training exercise that hadn't been announced, and which was being conducted before the Fourth had been issued with official insignia, a combination of events and circumstances that led to the local SLDF garrison force, the 210th Jump Infantry Division, mobilizing to respond to what they believed was a raid or pirate attack. Fortunately, the Fourth were able to prove their bona fides before maneuvering became an actual exchange of fire.[3]

As a formation the Hussars maintained a high level of combat-readiness, but Duchess Cameron-Jones refused to send any of the regiments to join the units being assembled on Solaris by Captain-General Ewan Marik following the attack on the Timothy Leary by the Lyran Commonwealth Armed Forces in 2745.[5] The Duchess cited the requirement to preserve the security of the Principality as the main reason out of a number of political reasons for not deploying the hussars, despite the majority of the Hussars regiments expressing willingness to comply with Marik's request; fortunately for the Hussars, the relationship between the brigade and the Captain-General wasn't damaged, as Marik took out his frustrations on the Duchess rather than the brigade.[3]

Despite the loyalty displayed to the Captain-General by the Hussars, SAFE agents were still operating within the support personnel within the brigade in the 2760s; the Star League Intelligence Command had evidence showing the presence of those operatives, and believed that their presence was most likely a result of orders from Ewan Marik following the Solaris incident.[3]

Succession Wars[edit]

Until the destruction of the Sixth Regulan Hussars on 2973 on Loric as a result of them being abandoned for two years by the Captain-General the Regulan forces were loyal to House Marik. After Loric their loyalty shifted to supporting the Cameron-Jones's family. During Anton's Revolt the Regulans were divided, with some fighting against their brother regiments. However when Thomas Marik sought to reorganize the FWLM they stood together as a unit against his military reform policies.[1]

The Jihad[edit]

During the Jihad the Hussars didn't join the Coalition, but instead preferred to fight the Word of Blake on their own terms. They became infamous for using nuclear weapons in several assaults on Blakist strongholds. They also capitalized on the confusion caused by the Jihad by occupying the systems of the Regulan Free States and the Principality of Gibson.[6][7] In some cases this pitted them against other units of the FWLM.[8][9] At this time the Regulan Hussars brigade also underwent a massive expansion.[10] By the end of 3079 there were twelve Regulan Hussar units on the rolls, but all were understrength. Interestingly most of the newer units (Sixth through Eighth, Tenth through Fourteenth) were formed around soldiers and units that had served the Word of Blake, including the Sirian Lancers, Protectorate Militia, and Third Free Worlds Guards.[7]

The Regulan Hussars invaded the Circinus Federation in pursuit of Word of Blake forces. Though they eliminated the Blakists it cost the Hussars dearly: Three units were completely destroyed. The Duchy of Oriente grew tired of the Regulans' vengeance raids, and so the 1st Fusiliers of Oriente conducted a series of spoiling attacks that forced the Regulans to adopt a defensive mentality. Through 3084 and 3085, the Regulan Hussars focused on rebuilding their units.[11]

In the wake of the Jihad, the Regulan Hussars were a ferocious but poorly equipped organization. Years of fighting against the Word of Blake had made the Hussars excellent strategic raiders, insurgents and guerrilla fighters, tenacious to the point of being rabid. However, despite the ferocity and experience of the individual troops and units, the Hussars were desperately short of equipment and manpower, a legacy of both their destructively genocidal campaign against the Word of Blake and a continuing border war with the Duchy of Oriente. By 3081 many of the battalions within the Hussars were formed from a mix of RetroTech 'Mechs, captured armor, artillery and foot infantry. The Hussars were badly in need of a command reorganization at this point in time, but while each unit lacked any operational organization their willingness to use any means necessary against those they considered to be sheltering Blakists - including the use of tactical nukes - combined with the increasing paranoia of Prince Titus Cameron-Jones helped to make the Principality a dangerous rogue state.[12]

Dark Age[edit]

After the dissolution of the first Free Worlds League, the Regulan Hussars continued to fight against their former countrymen. The Regulans' severe response to the Word of Blake threat made them pariahs among their former allies, and the Hussars responded with violence. The Hussars were also used to destroy several alleged Word of Blake terror cells during this time, but their massive use of force inflicted large amounts of collateral damage that made them unpopular with the civilians on the worlds they garrison.[13]

They took Emris in the Battle of Emris (3146).

Officers[edit]

Rank Name Command
Commanding Officers of the Regulan Hussars
General Tomaso Kinchuhara After 3025
Captain-General Titus Cameron-Jones 3085[14]

Other Officers[edit]

Notes[edit]

  • The brigade follows orders as common, but have their own unique dress style and use in some cases the old Andurien nomenclature.
  • The Hussars has a tradition to challenge a commander when a subordinate feels that the actual officer is not adequate to fulfill his role. These practice follows a series of regulation and couldn't be erased by the Marik High Command.
  • Kirc Cameron-Jones had strong ties to the brigade as a former member.

Tactics[edit]

Different per Unit.

Forces[edit]

The formations includes all common designs and no special technology is preferred. The LCCC used the upgrades as pressure for the acceptance of the reforms, but with little success. Because some of the avenues of the Principality is used to upgrade the Hussars. The Hussars use Trebuchets as support machines in lance strength like in the past. Every regiment includes at least eight machines. When deployed in mixed forces units they used combined arms with great effect.

Update
The unit composition of the Hussars changed after the break down of the League. The High Command began to create new standards for the Hussars to increase the firepower of the single units and factor in the small BattleMech numbers. The combined arms philosophy started at the Company level where a Lance of 4 'Mechs cooperated with 2 conventional platoons (either one tank and one infantry or two tank platoons). These formed as combined arms companies.[19]

Units of the Regulan Hussars[edit]

Notes[edit]

  • The Sixth Regulan Hussars was destroyed during the Third Succession War on Loric in 2973[2] and re-formed from soldiers who defected from the Word of Blake Protectorate.[7]
  • The Seventh Hussars was formed from soldiers who defected from the Word of Blake Protectorate.[7]
  • The Eighth Hussars was formed from soldiers who defected from the Word of Blake Protectorate.[7]
  • The Ninth Hussars was destroyed, not rebuilt after Jihad as many members were from Oriente.[7]
  • The Tenth Hussars was formed from soldiers who defected from the Word of Blake Protectorate.[7]
  • The Eleventh Hussars was formed from soldiers who defected from the Word of Blake Protectorate.[7]
  • The Twelfth Hussars was formed from soldiers who defected from the Word of Blake Protectorate.[7]
  • The Thirteenth Hussars was formed from soldiers who defected from the Word of Blake Protectorate.[7]
  • The Fourteenth Hussars was formed from soldiers who defected from the Word of Blake Protectorate.[7]
  • The Fifteenth Hussars was active in the Dark Age era.
  • The Sixteenth Hussars were active in the Dark Age era but destroyed in 3140 by the Third Free Worlds Guards.
  • The Eighteenth Hussars was active in the Dark Age era.
  • The Nineteenth Regulan Hussars was active in the Dark Age era.
  • The Twenty-first Hussars was active in the Dark Age era.
  • The Twenty-fifth Hussars was active in the Dark Age era.
  • The Twenty-sixth Hussars was active in the Dark Age era.
  • The Twenty-eighth Hussars was active in the Dark Age era.
  • The Thirtieth Hussars was active in the Dark Age era.
  • The Thirty-first Hussars was active in the Dark Age era.

Colors and Unit Insignia[edit]

The Regulan Hussars Regiment use a tan and brown camouflage with unit-specific highlight colors on their 'Mechs and vehicles. The Regulan Hussars regimental banner consists of a bat-winged banshee standing on a map of the Principality of Regulus (which includes the now independent Principality of Gibson and Regulan Free States). The design is usually displayed on the left torso and arm of the unit's BattleMechs and on the side of vehicles.[20]

References[edit]

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 House Marik (The Free Worlds League), p. 103: "Regulan Hussars"
  2. 2.0 2.1 Field Manual: Free Worlds League, p. 105
  3. 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 Field Report 2765: FWLM, p. 16: "Regulan Hussars"
  4. Field Report 2765: FWLM, p. 4: "Circumventing Directive 30"
  5. Field Report 2765: FWLM, p. 4: "Strategic Update"
  6. Jihad Hot Spots: Terra, p. 50
  7. 7.00 7.01 7.02 7.03 7.04 7.05 7.06 7.07 7.08 7.09 7.10 Field Report: FWLM, p. 9
  8. Jihad Hot Spots: Terra, p. 52
  9. Jihad Hot Spots: Terra, p. 79
  10. Jihad Hot Spots: Terra, p. 52
  11. Field Manual: 3085, p. 86
  12. Jihad: Final Reckoning, p. 92: "The Principality of Regulus"
  13. Field Manual: 3145, p. 110
  14. Former Free Worlds Military Forces Deployment Table"
  15. 20 Year Update, p. 57: "Free Worlds League Military"
  16. Field Manual: Free Worlds League, p. 115: "FWLM Deployment Table - 3059"
  17. Field Manual: Updates, p. 162: "FWLM Deployment Table - 3067"
  18. Field Manual: 3085, p. 86: "Fifth Regulan Hussars"
  19. Field Manual: 3085, p. 74
  20. Field Manual: Free Worlds League, p. 105

Bibliography[edit]